The Prince of Beacon
by Arkisenn
Summary: Heroes and Villains, Myths and Legends, this is the tale of one boy's quest to find his place in the world and the four girls who help him on his way. As they journey, they'll meet many people along the way and learn just what it means to be a Huntsman and Huntress.
1. Introducing the Prince

**(Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or RWBY. This is your one and only disclaimer people. There is no point to write a disclaimer for every chapter because every future chapter starts here at the first one! This isn't Pulp Fiction!)**

(Chapter 1: Introducing the Prince)

Myths; Legends; Stories we share with family and friends as a means of inspiring feelings of hope and courage or sometimes, caution and fear. We all hear various tales of heroes and villains, princes and princesses, of grand fights and tragic losses. Where the good guys are always just and the bad ones tyrannical. Such is the nature of myths and legends. Yet it is said, that all myths and legends are always based on a modicum of truth, but how many times do we ever hear the _true _story? How many times has someone stripped away the lies and pretty colors to tell you how those heroes you looked up to and the villains you cursed really came to be who they are?

Our tale begins in a dark hallway, where two men make their way to a dimly lit room. The first gentleman was a clean-cut man in his mid-thirties with short grey hair and circular wireframe glasses in a black vest and jacket with a green undershirt. Oddly enough, he carried with him a plate of cookies and a mug of coffee.

The second person was a young man no more than twenty years old wearing an orange coat with a black flame motif along the bottom with a tight black shirt and dark orange pants. Even in the dark hallway one could easily make out his sun kissed blonde hair. What people may have found most peculiar about the blonde, however was the darkly tinted goggles that hid his eyes from the outside world. Despite walking down a poorly lit hallway he gave no indication of his sight being hindered. In his hands was an electronic device much like a handheld computer, a scroll replaying surveillance footage dated less than an hour ago.

"So what do you think?" The grey haired gentleman asked his companion.

"Well, Ozzy…I think the VPD are a bunch of cheapskate bastards who should pay their damn electric bill."

"It's Ozpin," the newly dubbed Ozpin corrected caught between annoyance and amusement. "And I was referring to the girl in the video, not the hallway leading to the room for Hunter interrogations. We rarely use these rooms as it is, so it's fairly understandable why-"

"Yeah, whatever," his partner said cutting him off. He honestly didn't care for the why, he was just stating his opinion. "So you want my thoughts on the girl…hmm. Well she athletic, skilled in combat, and has an adorable face. My verdict? I'd tap that in three years."

Ozpin nearly lost his footing at his partner's crude assessment. "NARUTO! I can't believe you just said that!"

Naruto gave his friend a massive shit eating grin, "You're right, I'd totally do her in two."

This time Ozpin did lose his footing and his hold on the plate of cookies. Acting quickly, Naruto grabbed the plate and managed to save every cooking on it. Regaining his balance, Ozpin glared over at the still smiling blonde before forcefully taking the cookies away from him.

Sighing, he asked, "Can you at least try to be serious. I want your opinion of her as a potential student for this year."

"If that's what you wanted, then you should have said so."

Ozpin didn't even deign that with a response. Naruto put the scroll away as he continued to walk beside his older friend. "My answer would be yes. She might have some trouble fitting in based on her age and maturity, but she has more than enough raw potential and talent that waiting until she was seventeen would just be us holding her back. My only real concern is what she wants."

"Well let's find out." Ozpin replied as the two approached the interrogation room. Inside sat a fifteen year old girl with dark red hair and silver eyes wearing a red and black dress with a long red cloak being lectured by a stern looking woman with blond hair and green eyes wearing a blouse and knee-length skirt that practically screamed "business". The blonde haired woman noticed their presence but said nothing as she continued to walk around the girl sitting at the table giving her a harsh sermon.

"Why are we still waiting out here?" Naruto asked.

"Because you never interrupt Glynda's lecture and I like to make an entrance."

Naruto snorted. "You two are such drama queens."

Ozpin smirked at his younger friend.

"Hello pot, this is kettle. You're black." He said walking into the room as Glynda stepped aside revealing him to the young girl. "Ruby Rose…"

Naruto grumbled at Ozpin's parting remark and ignored the rest of the exchange as he walked into the room and took a spot on the wall to Ozpin's left while Glynda remained a step behind the grey haired gentleman's right. The girl, Ruby took notice of him and Naruto gave her a friendly smile and a wave before stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat. Ruby gave him an uncertain smile and wave before returning her attention back to Ozpin.

The blonde hair boy listened as Ruby was questioned on where she learned her skills to which the girl hesitantly answered. Ozpin gave a hum of thought before placing the plate of cookies before the girl, which she promptly stuffed her face with much to Naruto's amazement. Just how did she fit so many? He debated the possibility of her being a hamster Faunus before giving a mental snort.

"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe wielder of that skill before," Ozpin continued from where he left off. "A dusty old crow."

"Thachts ma ounkl." Ruby enthusiastically responded with her mouth still full. This time Naruto couldn't hide his snort, both at the girl and the look on his friend's face prompting both to glare at him. The blonde waved their glares off before indicating they should continue. The two continued to talk with the young rosette getting more and more worked up about her dreams of being a Huntress and helping people until her excitement came to a head and she had to take a moment to catch her breath much to Naruto and Ozpin's amusement. Glynda just continued giving the girl a doubtful stare.

Still smiling softly at the girl Ozpin asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon."

Glynda and Naruto exchanged a look telling each other they were impressed with the girl's answer. Many people knew Ozpin's name and position, but not even half as many could actually recognize him by face. For someone so young to be able to do so told them just how much she had studied about Beacon Academy. Ozpin himself smiled wider.

"Hello." He greeted.

"Pleasure to meet ya." Ruby replied.

"So you want to come to my school?"

"More than anything!"

Ozpin glanced over at Naruto and who gave a nod in return. He then looked to Glynda and saw her huff in annoyance before turning away, but both men still caught her subtle nod. Looking back at Ruby he said, "Well okay."

Ruby's eyes lit up like someone told her, her birthday came early and that she was going to have a week long party.

"This is Professor Uzumaki," Ozpin stated gesturing towards Naruto. "He will take you to Signal Academy so you can pack your things and say goodbye to your friends before dropping you off at the Shattered Moon hotel."

Naruto frowned at his boss, "This is payback for earlier isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Ozpin freely admitted. Meanwhile Ruby started to panic.

"I'm leaving so soon? I mean it's already like really, really late and I mean my friends will likely already be asleep and then I, I, uuuuuuuoh."

"My apologies, Ruby. But I feel it's best if we make sure you're with the other first years. You wouldn't want to accidently be left behind and miss the chance at your dream, right?"

"I…I guess not." Ruby said pushing her fingers together.

Naruto smiled and took pity on her. "Don't fret too much, Ruby. The first day at Beacon isn't too stressful. You arrive, have lunch, get a tour of the campus, listen to a brief if not boring orientation, then dinner and it's off to bed. No Grimm hunting or anything that will reflect poorly on you from a lack of sleep."

"I still won't get to spend much time with my friends before I have to leave." Ruby said sadly. Naruto reached into his coat before pulling out his scroll before sliding it across the table. Ruby picked it up and looked at him in confusion.

"Why not just call them? You're already going to wake them up anyway, right? May as well do it now. This way you can explain the situation and ask them to pack your things while we head over there. Then you can spend the time you would have been packing saying your goodbyes."

Ruby's eyes widened before she immediately started dialing her friends' numbers. Naruto made his way over to the other two adults in the room to give the girl some privacy.

"We'll be waiting for you back at Beacon." Ozpin said quietly.

"Aww, I didn't know you cared enough to stay up and wait for me. You're so sweet, Ozzy."

"It's Ozpin," Glynda said with annoyance, speaking for her boss. "And we still need to go over what happened tonight. See what you can dig up. Though I dislike praising anything that has to do with you, your spy network is better than ours."

"Yes, mom. It's not like I hadn't already planned on doing that and thanks for giving me your approval. It's nice to know you care." Naruto drawled sarcastically. Glynda tightened her grip on her riding crop and debated the pros and cons of striking the young professor with it. Before she could come to a decision Ruby spoke up.

"Okay! I'm ready to go."

Naruto suddenly disappeared and reappeared with his arm around Ruby's shoulder leading her out of the room. "Great timing, Red. Let's leave this musty old place before the mean _old_ lady takes out her pent up frustrations on us."

Glynda was all but growling as her eyes followed the two out of the room before she rounded on Ozpin.

"Don't look at me. I think you look lovely for your age."

*THWAK*

Ozpin stood back up with a wince and rubbed to newly formed knot forming on his head wondering if Naruto may have been on to something with his comment.

"I still don't understand why you put up with his blatant disrespect for authority." She said with a glower.

"Would you like the answers alphabetically or numerically?" Seeing her glare grow fiercer he quickly raised his hands in surrender before answering her seriously. "You already know his history, Glynda. Given who he is, or should I say was and what happened to him, is it any surprise he acts that way to those with power? Even if he considers us his friends, he still doesn't trust those with authority. The best we can do is treat him as an equal and that means giving him as much grief as he gives us rather than taking offense to it. He respects that kind of attitude. So the next time he steps out of line, make sure you take out your "pent up frustrations" on him instead of me."

*THWAK*

Despite his pain, Ozpin smiled. At least he deserved that one.

XxX

Ruby couldn't help but steal glances at the slightly older boy walking next to her as they made their way through the Vale City Police Department. Tonight had just been full of surprises from stopping a robbery, meeting a Huntress _and_ the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, getting _accepted_ to go to Beacon, and now she was walking side by side with a boy who couldn't be much older than her sister who was both a Huntsman _and_ a teacher at her new school. That last one really threw her for a loop and she wanted to ask him all sorts of questions but was afraid he might take offence.

"Something on my face?" Naruto asked having noticed her stares. Ruby blushed

"Sorry, you're…just not how I pictured a professor of Beacon."

"Oh?" he prodded with a teasing knowing grin.

"Well, I mean, um, oooooh." She trailed off getting more and more anxious before finally coming out and asking. "Aren't you a little young to be a teacher?"

"Aren't _you _a little young to be a student at Beacon?"

Ruby stopped walking and looked to the ground with her shoulders slumped. She knew it was a bad idea to ask. She hadn't even been talking with him for five minutes and already she was insulting him. Her stupid mouth and lack of social skills made it hard to open up to others. Maybe she really was too young to be a Huntress? What if he took his annoyances out on her at school? What if her sister suffered for simply being related to her? What if-

A comforting hand rested on her shoulder while another moved under her chin to raise her head up. She stared into the black goggles Professor Uzumaki desperately wishing she could see past them. Not being able to see a person's eyes made it hard to judge how they were truly feeling, but his friendly smile helped ease her fears.

"Relax, Ruby. I'm not offended and you shouldn't look so down. Age doesn't always relate to talent and experience. Age requirements are just a representation of what is considered average. There could be students older than me that are just starting at Beacon just as there could be students like you who get the opportunity to join early." Seeing she needed one final push, he added. "You already have my, Ozzy, and the mean witch's approval. What more proof do you need?"

Ruby covered her mouth to try and stifle her giggles. "Ozzy?"

Naruto's grin seemed to grow impossibly wider. "He hates that name, but I like screwing with my coworkers. Even if they're my boss."

The young girl giggled more. Naruto ruffled her hair before turning around and leading the way. Ruby childishly pouted behind him as she tried to fix her hair before quickly catching up.

"Thanks, Professor Uzumaki."

"Naruto."

"Huh?"

Naruto stopped to look at her. "My name is, Naruto. We aren't in class and I'm not yet your professor, so don't call me that. Besides I hate being called "Professor Uzumaki". Makes me sound old and stuffy, like the mean witch."

"Oh! Okay then…N-Naruto." Ruby said shyly getting a smile from the older boy.

Maybe things were looking up after all.

XxX

"WHAAAAAAA!" Ruby screamed as she clung to Naruto's back for dear life. The two were on the back of Naruto's motorcycle, Maelstrom as the young Huntsman sped down the highway going well over the speed limit. "CAN'T YOU SLOW DOWN?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder at her before facing the road once more. "Well I guess I could…"

Ruby looked at him with hope filled eyes.

"…But I won't."

Ruby was too afraid to let go so instead chose to do her best to beat his back with her head. "STUPID, STUPID, STUPID. I HATE YOU!"

Naruto just laughed out loud before cranking up the speed even more.

"WHAAAAA!"

XxX

The two arrived to Signal Academy without further incident and just pulled up to Ruby's old dorm. Said girl quickly jumped off the motorcycle and collapsed to the ground all the while glaring up at the chuckling blonde leaning casually against his bike. "Where did you learn to drive!? You're as bad as my sister! Wait, how can you even see anything with those goggles on!?"

"I have really good night vision." He answered with a laugh. "Better hurry if you want to still have time to sleep after saying goodbye to your friends."

Ruby just continued to glare at him as she got up off the floor and shakily made her way into the dorm. Naruto stayed behind to give her some privacy as well as take care of some more sensitive matters. When he was certain she was out of earshot he reached into his coat and pulled out his scroll. A few button presses later and he heard the telltale sound of ringing before the phone was answered.

"Well hello, Naruto." The seductively elegant voice of a woman said. In the background he could hear the muffled sounds of music that could only be found at a dance club.

"Tamamo." Naruto responded with a pleasant smile. She was his contact in the criminal underworld. An information broker at the best of times and someone you didn't ever want to cross at the worst of times. Actually, she was someone you never wanted to cross at all. "Hope I didn't disturb you."

The sound of a man crying out in pain came through seconds before Tamamo spoke with a light laugh. "Oh not at all, just wrapping something up actually. I suspected you would be calling and thought I'd get the latest bit of gossip out of one of Junior's little lackeys. They've been coming by more frequently lately. Seems he expects me to pay him "protection" money now that all his regulars come here ever since his club got trashed."

Naruto snorted. "The day you need protection from anyone is the day I'll return home."

"I thought you said _that _place wasn't your home anymore."

Wincing, he replied. "Slip of the tongue. You know, old habits and such."

"Indeed." She purred, not believing him for an instant.

"Regardless, we're getting off topic. Do you have something for me?"

"Oh I have _plenty_ for you, my Little Prince." Tamamo cooed into the phone. Naruto would have blushed had it not been for the man screaming in the background. Combining torture with arousal was just not something he was in to. "But I suppose you are referring to tonight's breaking story."

"I am. Dust theft has been on the rise and it isn't just Torchwick who is going after it. I'm betting Ozpin believes there is a connection and I agree with him. The problem is neither organization involved with the thefts would ever work together, but all evidence seems to the contrary. The only other possibility is-"

"That they're in competition," Tamamo said cutting him off. "But then the question becomes, what is the prize they're after?"

"Exactly."

"Hmmm…" The man in the background cried out once again. "Oh hush, I barely even cut you that time."

"Tamamo." Naruto called redirecting the woman's attention.

Tamamo sighed over the phone. "Sorry, Naruto but there really isn't much I can tell you that you already don't know. Roman's a slippery little bastard. Whenever he gets his hands dirty he works is small, hard to notice groups and has an escape route or several prepared. If I could have figured out which hole he was hiding in, I'd have dealt with him a long time ago."

Naruto frowned. "Damn, I was hoping you'd have more than that."

"I could give you a little of my own personal insight."

"And what would that cost me?"

"Oh…nothing really." Tamamo said sounding bored. "Maybe stop by and visit more often. I do so rarely get to see you these days."

Naruto shrugged not that she could see. "Meh, new school year is starting. You know us teachers tend to get busy this time of year. Still, it has been a while so I'll see what I can do. Maybe I'll bring some friends."

The man in the background cried out even louder this time. "Ooooh I do _love_ meeting new people."

"So…insight?"

"Hmm, well personally I believe our two criminal groups are working together. If they were competing then Roman would be losing and the man hates losing."

"How do you figure that?"

"Roman has only targeted the Dust shops in town and the occasional shipment that runs through his territory. Our other group however has been hitting the Dust mines and has been targeting much larger shipments. So if it's a contest there's no question who is in the lead. And as I said before…"

"Torchwick is a sore loser. So he'd be making a much larger fuss instead of going about business as usual."

"Bingo~" Tamamo sang.

"Thanks, Tamamo. I promise I'll stop by sometime within the next two weeks."

"Better not break your promise, my Little Prince. Wouldn't want to get a girl's hopes up."

Naruto grinned ruefully. "You know me, when I make a promise I keep it!"

"Till next time, Naruto." Tamamo said before hanging up.

XxX

On the outskirts of the city, inside one of Vale's biggest night clubs a beautiful woman wearing a red and black corset with an ankle length black dress that had a slit running up her mid-thigh, tucked her scroll back between the valley of her breasts. Her waist length red hair was tied off into nine low ponytails and atop her head were two fox ears. Her cold red eyes with slit pupils gazed down at a heavily bleeding man tied to a chair. He was covered in cuts of varying depth from head to toe and the blood dripping off of the woman's claw like fingernails was all the evidence one needed to know how the man became so grievously injured.

"So what should I do with you?" Tamamo cooed to the barely conscious man. "Junior has been pissing me off so I think I need to send him a message. A letter, maybe?" She mused thoughtfully with a finger on her chin not even minding the blood that transferred over. Shaking her head she continued voicing her thoughts. "No, no, no that won't do at all. No one ever reads the card they just look to see if there's any lien inside. A present then! Oh, but what to give him. A head is too cliché and I doubt your life is valuable enough to warrant ransoming you off. So something like an ear or a finger won't do. No, it needs to be something creative. Something that will inspire fear as well as make it clear just how annoyed I am with him. Hmmm…I got it!"

Gripping the man's bound wrists she leaned down to stare him in the eyes with a feral grin. "I'll send him your cock! You men seem to treasure that dangly bit of meat between your legs so it would make the perfect gift! I'll even use a nice box with a pretty little bow!"

The man whimpered in fear as Tamamo stood back up and turned to the door. "Oh, Kuro! Could you come in here really quick?"

The door opened to reveal a seventeen year old girl with long white hair tied off into two low ponytails with a pair of white cat ears atop her head. Her outfit consisted of a silver and black kimono. She paid the bleeding man no mind. "Yes, Mistress?"

"Get me a nice box with pretty wrapping paper. Oh and a bow, don't forget the bow."

"How big should the box be?"

Tamamo glanced at the man before turning back to Kuro. "Oh not too big, I'm pretty sure he's not."

"It will be here within the hour." Kuro said before leaving.

As the door shut, Tamamo turned back to the man still whimpering in pain and quivering in fear of her. "You hear that? You get to live for another hour! Now what should we do to pass the time?"

Her sinister smirk told him she already knew what they would be doing and just as it had for the last two and a half hours, the club's music drowned out his screams.

XxX

Naruto put his scroll away as he watched Ruby come out of the dorm waving behind her to a handful of kids her age. She shouted she'd write them before running up to him carrying a single backpack. The blonde hair professor quirked an eyebrow and how lightly packed she was.

"That's it?"

"Huh? Oh! No, my uncle stopped by and said he'd have my stuff delivered to Beacon tomorrow so I just grabbed the important things. You know like my pajamas, toothbrush, and oh, oh my doggy pillow! Wanna see?"

"Maybe another time. Let's get going." Naruto said as he hopped onto his bike. He quickly noticed Ruby's absence and saw she took a step away from him. "What's wrong?"

"Um…can't we get a taxi?"

Kick starting the engine, he scoffed while patting the side of his bike. "That would take too long and I refuse to leave my baby behind."

"But you drive like a maniac!" Ruby shouted with a childish stomp.

"Oi!"

"You go over the speed limit, swerve between traffic, and I'm pretty sure those "shortcuts" of yours were just an excuse to make us go airborne! I haven't even mentioned the times you were on the wrong side of the road!"

"You know your constant griping is going to bite you in the butt on our way to the hotel, right."

"Nu-uh," Ruby declared shaking her head and crossing her arms. "There is nothing you can do to make me get on that thing."

"That so?" Naruto asked before cranking the throttle driving five feet and performing a sharp U-turn only to pull up right alongside Ruby. He then grabbed one of her arms and threw her over the seat behind him.

Ruby was too stunned to react immediately, but quickly realized how compromising her position was with her butt in the air facing her old dorm. Panicking she hurriedly cried out. "Wait, wait! I'll sit down properly! I won't complain anymore! I won't-"

Naruto ignored her cries before pulling back on the throttle and speeding off. The wind from their speed effortlessly lifted Ruby's skirt showing her dorm mates her pink chibi-beowolf panties.

"WHAAAA!" Ruby cried in embarrassment. "EVERYONE CAN SEE MY UNDIES!"

XxX

Eventually the two made it to the Shattered Moon hotel where the other potential first years were sleeping before their trip to Beacon. Sometime on the ride over, Naruto pulled over and let her sit down on the bike properly, but not before he was slapped several dozen times in retaliation by Ruby. As the bike came to a stop just outside the front door of the hotel, the young Huntress-in-training hopped off on steadier legs and glared at her ride.

"I hate you."

"Love you too, Red." Naruto replied with a laugh getting a more heated glare from the young girl. "Now make sure to let the front desk know you're a last minute addition to the Beacon first years and they'll set you up with a room."

"Just like that?" Ruby asked. Sounded too easy to her.

"Just like that. Late arrivals or last minute add-ons aren't exactly uncommon since we get potential students from many different regions. Some end up facing delays on their way here."

"Oh…so I guess this is goodbye?" She asked uncertainly. Driving aside, he had been really friendly to her.

Naruto shrugged. "More like an "I'll see you later". We'll meet up again at Beacon, Red. At the very least, I can guarantee you'll see me again tomorrow night."

"So, uh, I guess I'll see you later?" Ruby asked shyly. They may have got off on the right foot, but they had only known each other for a couple hours and Ruby was still feeling a little nervous around him. Well, at least when he wasn't doing anything to irritate her. Despite her social awkwardness, she couldn't deny that she was looking forward to seeing the young professor again soon. Naruto smiled and gave her a short wave.

"Until tomorrow." He said. Just before he was about to speed off he called out. "Hey, Red!"

Ruby was just about to enter the hotel when she stopped to look back at him.

"Cute panties!" He yelled jovially before peeling out. Laughing the whole time as Ruby yelled how much she hated him.

XxX

It didn't take long for Naruto to make his way from the hotel to the airfield where Professor Ozpin and his assistant Glynda Goodwitch were waiting for him by the Bullhead transport that would take them to Beacon. Naruto hopped off his bike and let an attendant load it into the plane, but not before threatening to break the man's legs if there was a single scratch on his baby. The attendant just took it in stride having heard that particular threat seven times already in the past.

"I thought you two were going to head straight to Beacon?" Naruto questioned as he walked up alongside them and they made their way into the plane.

"We were, but then Glynda reminded me that you see the rules of the road as more of an open suggestion and then we figured we may as well wait up. At least this way we can save time and talk on our way back to Beacon."

"What about the other professors? Didn't you want to discuss this with them?"

"We decided to wait until morning." Glynda supplied. "It's unlikely anything you discovered is something we can act upon."

Naruto took a seat opposite of them and slouched in his seat much to the annoyance of Glynda. The younger blonde felt she needed to get laid, that would probably lighten her up a bit. Not that he would actually say that. He knew there was a fine line between testing her patience and completely shattering what little hold she had on it.

"You're right about that," He agreed. "Tamamo didn't tell me anything we already hadn't figured out. That aside, she did agree with our suspicions that Torchwick is working with the White Fang."

"Troubling," Ozpin said as he took a sip from his mug. "He's an open opponent to Faunus/Human relations. So the very idea that he is working with a Faunus elitist group like the White Fang means whatever they're working towards is big."

"That's assuming Professor Uzumaki's contact wasn't lying or withholding information." Glynda commented.

Naruto frowned at her accusation. "I may trust Tamamo as far as I can throw her, but she has never lied to me. Information is her primary trade and she wouldn't dare do something that could hurt her credibility. Besides, she hates Torchwick. He's competition in the underworld."

"She's still a criminal." Glynda grumbled. She hated having a known criminal run free, but Tamamo was cunning, intelligent, and well connected making it hard to pin a crime on her. "I know you have some evidence against her. Why do you continue letting her do as she pleases?"

"Because I like living?" Naruto said as if the answer were obvious. "Besides she's a better off as a resource than an enemy."

"You only say that because you're consorting with her."

"And you're just jealous that I think she's sexier than you." Was Naruto's opinion.

*THWACK*

"Ah fuck! My leg!" The younger blonde cried as he rubbed his new welt. "That doesn't do much to disprove my theory."

*THWACK*

"OW! Geez for the love of Dust woman, quit it!"

Ozpin continued drinking his coffee happy to not be the target of his assistant's ire.

"By the way, Naruto. Did she have anything to say about our mystery woman in red?"

Naruto continued rubbing his leg whilst glaring at Glynda, who was happy to glare back at him. "She didn't offer anything and I didn't bring it up. Had she known, she'd have mentioned it. Whoever this woman is, she's either a new hire for Torchwick or someone higher in the food chain who is as good at covering her tracks as, Tamamo."

Ozpin took another sip from his coffee. "Troubling indeed…"

XxX

The next day seemed to be the start of a really long roller coaster ride for Ruby. She woke up feeling exhausted having only gotten a few short hours of restless sleep. When she made her way to the hotel's breakfast buffet, she tried finding her sister. Unfortunately, there were simply too many students. She honestly felt afraid and alone. All these people were clearly older than her and seemed to have their own friends to hang out with. It only served to remind her that aside from her sister, Yang she was going into Beacon all alone. The reminder only made her feel even more uncomfortable. She didn't want people to look down on her for her age and it made her wonder if she really belonged here.

_You already have my, Ozzy, and the mean witch's approval. What more proof do you need?_

The words of encouragement from Naruto came back to her. The older boy may have annoyed her to no end, but he did seem to know what to say and when to say it. Besides, he was right. She had the approval of two Huntsmen and one Huntress. One was even the Headmaster of Beacon and the other two served as teachers. Her resolve strengthened she grabbed herself some breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and an extra tall glass of milk, the drink of grown-ups.

She quickly found a table occupied by a quiet boy with black hair with a pink stripe and a very exuberant girl who seemed to be incapable of not talking. Ruby wanted to introduce herself, but didn't want to interrupt the girl who was speaking enough for all three of them so instead she just quietly ate her breakfast. That seemed to be what the boy was doing though Ruby could have sworn he gave her an apologetic look.

After breakfast the students were ushered onto a bus and taken to an airfield where they would board one of three planes to get to Beacon. It was as they were getting off the bus that Ruby found her sister.

"Yang!" She called out running to a girl with long flowing blonde hair. Yang was an attractive young woman wearing a tan vest and yellow crop top. Her waist was adorned with a pleated skirt-like belt of the same color as her vest and very short shorts. Her ensemble was concluded by an orange scarf that she rarely took off.

"Ruby?" Yang said in surprise as her sister hugged her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to Beacon too!" Ruby said letting go.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, see there was this robbery and I was there so, you know I figured I would help stop it. Then I was all wa-cha and hai-yah! But then the big bad guy was trying to run away, so I chased after him, but he tried attacking me! Then, a Huntress showed up and saved me while chasing off the bad guys! I asked for her autograph, but instead-"

"Whoa, whoa slow down, little sister." Yang said calming Ruby. "Now what were you saying about going to Beacon?"

"Uug!"Ruby growled in annoyance. "I was getting to that but you interrupted!"

"You were taking the long way of getting to it, Ruby." Was her sister's response as they were told to board.

Ruby pouted childishly as she stepped into the plane. "Fine, long story short the Huntress took me to the Vale City Police Department where I met Professor Ozpin. He asked if I wanted to come to Beacon and I said yes."

Yang seemed to be brimming with energy before she engulfed Ruby in a tight hug. "Oh I can't believe my baby sister gets to go to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever! Of all time!"

"Please stop." Ruby groaned as her sister continued to crush her ribs. She hoped one day Yang would learn what "restraint" meant.

"But I'm so proud of you!"

"Really, sis. It was nothing." To her, last night was no big deal and even if it was, she didn't want it to be.

"What do you mean? What you said sounded incredible! Everyone at Beacon is gonna think you're the bee's knees!"

"I don't want to be the bee's knees!" Ruby protested. "I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I am. It's just…I got moved ahead two years…I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

Yang walked up to her sister and wrapped her arm around her shoulder giving her a hug. "But you _are_ special."

Any further conversation was cut off as the two noticed a news broadcast reporting the events of the night before. As the report concluded it cut back to the anchorwoman who proceeded to report about a Faunus civil rights movement, but was soon cut off as a holographic projection of Glynda Goodwitch, or the mean witch as Naruto was fond of calling her appeared to welcome all the first year students. As Glynda finished her welcoming speech, Ruby and Yang couldn't suppress the anticipation they felt towards the coming year.

XxX

"And that brings us up to date on the events of last night." Professor Ozpin said to his staff. "We will continue to monitor the situation in Vale, but until something comes of it I expect you all to fulfill your duties as teachers of Beacon."

"Does this mean we aren't redrawing lots for babysitting the new students?" Naruto asked much to the amusement of the rest of the staff.

Ozpin sighed, "Yes, Naruto than means we aren't redrawing who monitors the students when they go to bed tonight. Yes, you're still on first watch. And no, you can't convince me to replace you."

"What if I'm ill?"

"Good question. Glynda, your response?" Ozpin said turning to his assistant.

"Then you're going to have an even _more_ miserable first watch." Glynda said glaring at her fellow blonde.

"Damn."

XxX

The day had gone exactly as Naruto had said and for Ruby it followed the constant pattern of emotional highs and lows. After arriving at Beacon, Yang had ditched her to go hang out with her friends from Signal leaving Ruby alone where she encountered two girls. One was incredibly bossy and mean and seemed to have a thing for the color white. The other was very quiet and calm and dressed in a lot of black. Ruby failed to befriend either one to say the least.

She was about to let her depression swallow her up when she was greeted by a blonde hair boy. At first she had thought it was Naruto, but it turned out to be another first year. His name was Jaune Arc and she found he was funny and nice like Naruto had been. Just in a different way. Naruto was the teasing prankster sort of funny, but Jaune was the loveable goofball sort. They got along really well and Ruby believed it was because they both felt awkward in social situations that helped them get along. After all, it's a lot easier to talk to someone when you can relate to them. The two hung out for most of the day until it was time for orientation where she met up with Yang and they went their separate ways.

Sadly, that was where her day hit another low point when she and Yang ran into the bossy girl from earlier. Weiss Schnee if Ruby remembered her name correctly. Weiss was a pale girl with long white hair tied up into a side-ponytail wearing a white thigh length skirt much like Ruby's black one. She also wore a white bolero jacket with a red lining inside. However the most noticeable thing about her was the crooked scar running down her left eye. Despite having a scar on her face, it didn't seem to detract from her overall beauty. Ruby thought it was a shame that her personality sucked.

The orientation itself had been incredibly short and Ruby was a bit surprised with how different Professor Ozpin had seemed. It was like he was distracted and wanted to focus on something other than greeting the newly arrived first years. Once it was over they were ushered to the cafeteria where Yang revealed an interesting bit of gossip she picked up when she was hanging with her friends.

"So, Ruby ever hear about the Prince of Beacon?" Yang asked with a wide smile while taking a bite out of her sandwich.

Ruby looked at her sister in wonder completely ignoring her soup. "Beacon has a prince? Like a real prince? Whoa…I thought it looked like a castle from outside, but I guess it really is one."

"No, no, no." Yang waved wildly. "Not a real prince. It's just a nickname they gave to this really hot professor."

Ruby visibly deflated. "Boring…"

Seriously what was with her older sister and boys? Sure some were nice to look at but most of them tended to be really, really dumb.

"Oh, little sister one day you'll understand." Yang lamented. "Anyway, they say he's a young blonde who's really handsome."

"Did someone say "blonde, young, and incredibly handsome"?" Jaune asked coming out of nowhere and sliding up to Yang in an attempt to act suave.

Yang cringed before developing a teasing smile. "He's also a fully-fledged Huntsman, wears goggles all the time, and can make the color orange look sexy."

This time Jaune visibly deflated.

"If only I could remember his name…I remember it started with an N…"

As Yang tried to recall the name of the so called Prince of Beacon the details she listed started to filter through Ruby's "ignore" filter until they all clicked together.

"Naruto?"

Yang perked up, "Yeah! That's it! Naruto! How'd you know?"

"He was the one who took me to Signal so I could pack my things before dropping me off at the hotel last night."

Yang's eyes widened considerably before she was suddenly on the other side of the table shaking her sister and spouting off question after question. "You already met him? Is he hot? Does he live up to all the rumors? Did you get his number?"

"SToOoOoOp sHaAaAaKiNg mEeEeEeE." Ruby cried. Yang let her sister go and gave her a minute to clear the cobwebs out of her head. Jaune patted her back.

"Well?"

"I don't know okay!" Ruby said a bit heatedly before becoming uncertain once more. "I-I mean I guess he is handsome, but most of the time he was teasing me and laughing at my expense. He even threw me over his motorcycle and drove off fast enough that my skirt was lifted and revealed my underwear to all my friends!"

Jaune started picturing that scenario, but was quickly socked in the face by Yang who rounded on her sister once more. "He has a motorcycle!? That's so awesome! Maybe I can convince him to go riding with me sometime!"

"Didn't you hear me!?"

"Yeah, you said he has a motorcycle. He has a motorcycle, I have a motorcycle. What else matters?"

"He made me flash my underwear!" Ruby stood up and yelled grabbing the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. She quickly sank back into her seat and pulled her hood over her head trying to make herself look as small as possible.

Yang chuckled at her sister's antics. When would she learn most of the trouble she got into was due to her own actions? "Look at the bright side…"

Ruby looked up at her.

"…It couldn't have been any more embarrassing than what you just did right now."

"Uuuuuuuoh." She cried pitifully wishing the ground would swallow her.

XxX

After dinner they were led to the ballroom where they went about setting up their sleeping bags for the night. Ruby had just returned from changing into her pajamas when she noticed a familiar figure in orange leaning against the wall and watching the students. She quickly stomped over to him and before he could notice her, smacked him on the arm.

*SMACK*

Naruto glanced over at the girl glaring up at him. "Hey, Red. Any reason you just-"

*SMACK*SMACK*

Ruby smacked his arm twice.

"…Okay."

*SMACK*

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her. "You gonna say what this is about or just keep smacking me?"

Ruby smacked his arm again. Once, twice, then a few dozen more for good measure. All the while, maintaining her glare.

Naruto glanced at the panting girl and was starting to get annoyed. Her attacks hadn't hurt at first, but after being hit so many times his arm was starting to sting. "Done yet?"

*SMACK*

Naruto's eyebrow developed a tick. As Ruby raised her hand for another slap he said. "You hit me one more time and I'll spank you in front of everyone here and tell them what a bad girl you were being."

Ruby's arm quickly dropped, but her glare intensified. "You embarrassed me!"

"Last I recall, I wasn't the one who shouted "He made me flash my underwear" in the cafeteria."

Ruby's face matched the color of her hood as she remembered what had to be the most embarrassing moment of her life. "I never would have said that had it not happened!"

"And it never would have happened had you simply got on the bike without protest." Naruto countered. The two continued to glare at one-another before Ruby heard her sister call out to her.

"There you are! I was looking all over for…well hello handsome." Yang said as she noticed Naruto. "So who's your new friend, Ruby?"

Ruby grumbled. "He's not my friend. He's just a no good panty flasher!"

Yang glanced over at Naruto and took note of his blonde hair, goggles, and preference for orange clothing. Smiling she held out her hand. "So, you're the Prince of Beacon! I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister."

Naruto took her hand with a smile and bent down to give her knuckles a chaste kiss. Yang's smile grew. Oh she liked this guy. He knew how to lay on the charm. She wasn't the sort to let her heart go all a flutter by such simple acts, but she was someone who could appreciate and respect another member of the flirt brigade.

"Some have called me that, but you can call me, Naruto. At least, outside of classes. Glynda gets a little pissy if I act too unprofessional."

"Sure thing, Naruto." Yang said with a massive smile and a wink. "So my sister claims you had a wild time last night."

"I assure you, all of it is true." Naruto replied with his own grin.

"Bold thing to say to the older sister of the girl whose panties you flashed."

Ruby blushed hard as two students walked by and stared at the trio oddly having heard Yang.

Naruto just shrugged. "It was late and she wouldn't get on my motorcycle."

"Yeah, she seems to have a fear of motorcycles. I can't understand why. They're awesome! By the way, I have a motorcycle too. Maybe we can get together and go for a ride sometime."

Naruto grinned at his fellow blonde. "Sounds good. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go break up a make-out session. Why Beacon thinks putting teenage boys and girls in the same sleeping space is a good idea is beyond me."

The two sisters' watched Naruto walk off, one with a massive grin, the other still blushing from embarrassment.

"Well, he seemed nice."

"Speak for yourself." Ruby said with a huff before stomping over to her sleeping bag. There was still about ten minutes before lights out so she grabbed a notebook out of her backpack and a pencil and started writing.

"What's that?" Yang asked as she laid down on her sleeping bag next to Ruby's.

"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."

"Awww that's so cuuuute." Yang teased before being smacked in the face with Ruby's pillow.

"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anybody."

"What about Jaune? He's…nice. Or maybe Naruto? He seemed pretty cool to me. There you go! Plus two friends that's a 200 percent increase!"

"I'm not so sure I'd call Naruto a friend." Ruby grumbled still annoyed with the blonde. "Besides he's still a teacher and I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. So it's back down to zero."

"I guess you have a point about Naruto being a teacher. But hey! There's no such thing as negative friends! You've just made one friend and one enemy!"

Ruby's retort was to throw her doggy pillow at Yang's face. Seeing how upset her sister was, Yang decided she had teased her enough. "Look it's only been one day. You have friends all around you, you just haven't met them yet."

The sound of a match being lit drew Ruby's attention to a girl leaning against the wall reading a book by candlelight. She had black hair and amber eyes and wore a black and grey yukata.

"That girl…" Ruby whispered recognizing her from earlier.

"You know her?"

"Not really. She saw what happened this morning but left before I could say anything."

"Well, now's your chance!" Yang said standing up and pulling Ruby up by her arm before dragging her over to the reading girl. The girl heard the commotion and lowered her book just enough to see what was going on. "Hello~. I think you two may know each other."

She glance over to the short brunette before asking. "Aren't you that girl that exploded?"

"Yeah." Ruby said trying to sound chipper. "My name's Ruby. But you can just call me crater…er…actually you can just call me Ruby."

"…Okay." The girl said not looking up from her book.

"What are you doing?" Yang whispered to her sister.

"I don't know! Help me!" She whispered back.

"So," Yang started. "What's your name?"

The girl sighed before answering. "Blake."

"Well, Blake I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister! I like your bow!" The blonde greeted enthusiastically.

"Thanks…" Blake said though it was clear she didn't care.

"…It goes great with your, um pajamas!" Yang said. Even she was starting to feel a little awkward talking to the quiet girl.

"…Right."

The two sisters shared a glance before Yang tried starting a conversation with the girl once more. "Nice night don't ya think?"

Blake lowered her book and spoke with mild annoyance. "Yes, it's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book…"

The two sisters didn't seem to get the hint.

"…that I will continue to read…"

Seeing they were still oblivious to her desire, Blake decided to spell it out for them.

"…as soon as you leave."

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause." Yang said to her sister. She was about to leave when Ruby spoke up for the first time since Yang had taken the reigns of the conversation.

"What's it about?"

Somehow that question actually managed to grab Blake's attention. "Huh?"

"Your book."

"Well, it's about a man with two souls. Both fighting for control over his body."

"Oh yeah…that sounds real lovely." Yang said feeling a little out of place.

"I love books." Ruby said with a soft smile. "Yang used to read to me every night when I was a kid. Stories of heroes and monsters. They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress."

"Why is that? Hoping to live happily ever after?" Blake asked with a bit of dry amusement.

"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

Naruto was standing a ways off listening to the two girls talk and couldn't help but smile. Despite how childish she could be, Ruby was someone with a strong will and he felt his respect for the girl rise a notch. Sure she had said things like that when she was speaking to Ozpin last night, but this time he could clearly hear her conviction.

"That's very ambitious for a child." Blake praised before her eyes fell and a sadness seemed to seep into her. "Unfortunately the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"Well, that's why we're here. To make it better."

Ruby's words seemed to have a comforting effect on Blake which impressed Naruto further. Not many people could cheer up a perfect stranger quite like that. However the mood was quickly shattered when Yang picked up her younger sister in a big hug prompting Ruby to attack her. He was about to intervene when another girl entered the scene.

"What is going on over here!? Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep!?" When the white hair girl noticed who she was yelling at she yelled again in tandem with Yang.

"Oh no! Not you again."

Ruby tried to play negotiator, but was quickly swept up into the arguing. Blake rolled her eyes and was about to give up reading entirely when…

*POW*POW*POW*

Weiss, Ruby, and Yang were hunched over rubbing the top of their heads with an annoyed Naruto standing behind them with his fist still raised.

"All right, no more fighting! The only cat fights I'll approve of will involve pillows and giggles!" He said getting three glares and one amused smirk for his last comment. "Now off to bed you three!"

Weiss grumbled, but decided arguing with a Beacon professor wasn't worth the trouble. Ruby trudged back to her sleeping bag while Yang gave him a flirty wink before following after her sister. Naruto glanced down at Blake who looked up at him with a neutral gaze.

"You can have thirty minutes to continue reading, but after that it would be best if you get some sleep as well." He quietly told her.

Blake nodded her understanding. She would have given the blonde a smile in thanks had he not made a pillow fighting comment less than two minutes ago. Naruto walked off to let the girl finish reading in peace. As he made his way over to the wall next to the door leading out of the ballroom, one thought occupied his mind.

Babysitting teenagers sucked!

(End of chapter 1)

Okay so it's been a while since I've done any writing of the fanfic variety, but I really wanted to get back into the swing of things. Especially since I've started writing more original project. Anyway, a few things I feel I should note. First, I've read a few RWBY crossovers and have rarely if ever seen a fic where the crossover character is actually a teacher. He's usually always a member of Team RWBY. Now for those who feel this will hurt his interaction with the girls, relax I have a perfect idea for making sure they are almost always together. Hint, hint think Genin Squad.

Secondly, how many people actually take Monty's vision to heart and make certain their characters are allusions to characters in myths, legends, fairy tales, or history? I can tell you right now every character I introduce into the fic from the Naruto-verse will meet that criteria and will even go as far as to mention who they are alluding to. Except Naruto. I want you all to guess his allusion. Also, don't expect characters from Naruto to have major roles (except for Naruto obviously). They will be there for his storyline and only serve as brief side-characters that way I don't have Naruto constantly stealing Team RWBY's thunder. I hate crossovers where one character just completely overshadows everyone else.

Without further ado, here are the character allusions for chapter one.

**Tamamo** – She is a mythological Japanese figure from the late Heian period known for her great beauty and wicked cunning. She is also one of the many human names given to, you guessed it, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The full name is Tamamo no Mae if you wish to look it up.

**Kuro –** Kuro is an allusion to the Nekomata, a two tailed cat that is famous in both Japanese and Chinese folklore. Her appearance is based off a fusion between Koneko and Kuroka from Highschool DxD. Hence where the name Kuro comes from.

So yes, I have the Nibi and Kyuubi in this story. I highly doubt the other biju will make an appearance. To be honest, Kuro was a last minute addition but I felt Tamamo should have a more solid appearance as a crime lord and have a guard show up, but rather than just do some nameless face I decided to add Nibi.

So any questions or comments?


	2. The Prince's Peerage

(Chapter 2 The Prince's Peerage)

Naruto groaned in his bed the next day as a chiming from the scroll on his bedside table went off. His arm blindly reached out and felt for his goggles before he put them on and answered the scroll never taking his head off his pillow. Last night had been more trouble than it was worth and all he wanted to do was sleep, thus he kindly asked.

"Who's the dead son of a bitch waking me up after a night of babysitting?"

"My dear boy, haven't I told you the values of answering your scroll politely? What if this had been an emergency? Or what if I had been a beautiful young Huntress wishing to spend time in your company?" A deep spoken voice answered.

Naruto looked up and saw the face of an elderly gentleman well into his fifties with grey hair and a bushy mustache of the same color. He was a hefty man wearing a burgundy suit with gold trimming and buttons. Naruto blew out a breath before laying his head back down and responding.

"Sorry, Pete. Last night sucked."

Pete, or Peter Port was one of the oldest professors of Beacon. Both in age and in tenure. He was also one of the few people Naruto got along with exceptionally well and thus Peter was rarely the victim of his pranks. The man was just too polite to not like and the few times Naruto had pranked him when they first met ended with the obese professor laughing it off and praising Naruto as a true Huntsman for managing to get the drop on a much more experienced colleague. The blonde had quickly warmed up to the man and the two would usually be seen together eating, discussing lesson plans, and sometimes even doing a collaborative class as their two subjects could be easily applied to one another. Peter being Beacon's resident expert on Grimm hunting and tactics while Naruto was the expert in field survival and weapon engineering.

"Ah yes! The infamous first watch of the new crop of students. This was your first time, was it not?"

"No…well it's my first time with the first watch, but last year I had third watch so most of the students were asleep and those who weren't were just getting up to use the bathroom."

It was to be expected. Naruto was still only twenty so he hadn't exactly been a teacher at Beacon for long. This year would be the start of his third year teaching.

"So how was it? I heard one first year ended up in the infirmary."

Naruto turned so he was laying on his back before answering with more than a hint of annoyance. "Three arguments, one fist fight, seven make-out sessions, and a lame attempt at a subtle petting an hour after lights out. The student in the infirmary was the boy in that last incident whose ass I broke my foot off in."

"And the girl?" Peter asked more than a little interested. Naruto let out a heavy sigh. Why were all old men perverts?

"I figured she was embarrassed enough having been caught by a professor who ultimately caused a loud enough commotion to wake up all the nearby students. So I told her to get into her sleeping bag with the threat that if she got out for any reason whatsoever, even if it was to take a piss that I would break my other foot of in _her_ ass."

"I'm sure they're both already kicked out. The coed sleeping arrangement is the first test in the students' initiation. Most of what you mentioned would be classified as minor offenses that are only punishable on repeated occurrences, but major offenses like that last one you mentioned are ones that end in expulsion. If they can't control themselves in public, imagine what would happen when they actually got to the dorms!" Peter paused for a moment and the blush on his cheeks told Naruto he really _was_ imagining it. At least now it made sense why Beacon would put all the first years be they boy or girl in the same sleeping space.

"Wait, I mentioned a fist fight too. That's classified as a minor offense?"

Peter was broken from his musings and answered sounding slightly flustered. "Of course! This _is_ a school where students dedicate themselves to the fine art of combat. It is to be expected that tempers will occasionally flare. What matters is that fights between students do not end in maiming or any serious injury for that matter."

"Huh," Naruto said thoughtfully. "So is there any reason you're calling me so early? Or were you just checking in on me?"

"My dear boy, I'll have you know it is ten after noon."

"Oh." Naruto mumbled sheepishly. He hadn't meant to sleep in that late.

"But now that you mention it, Professor Ozpin did ask me to wake you up. Apparently first year group C is about to begin their initiation and he said you would probably want to be there for it."

"Boring~"

"He thought you might say that. He told me to tell you group C is the group with one Ruby Rose in it." Peter quirked an eyebrow as he watched Naruto shoot up out of bed and begin throwing his clothes on. "I see this means something to you. Care to enlighten me?"

"Ruby is the girl Ozzy and I went to check out the other night. I saw a recording of her in action and wanted to see her initiation for myself. But since she was a last minute addition I figured she'd be with a later group." Naruto said as he pulled his black shirt over his head.

"Hmm, Professor Ozpin must have plans for her if he added her to an earlier group."

"The man does love to scheme." Naruto commented as he threw on his coat and walked over to the scroll. "Thanks for the wakeup call, Pete. I would have hated to miss Red's initiation."

"Anytime my friend! Do enjoy yourself."

"Thanks!" Naruto said about to click the scroll off, but was stopped by Peter.

"Before you go, could you stop by sometime later? Last year's collaborative classes were a big hit with the students and I had some new ideas I want to run by you."

"I can't guarantee a meeting tonight, Pete. Ozzy has been pushing me to take on a squad this year and if Red passes I might just take him up on that offer."

"Then maybe later in the week. There isn't any rush."

"Sure thing! Catch you later, Pete."

"I shall cheer for your potential future protégé, Naruto."

Naruto thanked the man and clicked his scroll off before he rushed out of the room. With any luck he'd catch Ruby before her initiation started.

XxX

Ruby had just finished leading a disoriented Jaune Arc to his locker after another one of his failed attempts at flirting. This time his target had been Weiss and Pyrrha Nikos, a red hair Amazonian looking girl in bronze color armor. The end result had left him pinned to a wall thanks to Pyrrha's javelin. At least the girl apologized for pinning Jaune to the wall, though Ruby did consider that a little odd. If she was sorry, why did she do it in the first place? Ruby shrugged it off as she approached the exit of the locker room where she saw Naruto leaning against the wall.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" She asked. It would have been a lie to say part of her wasn't still annoyed with the blonde hair professor, but she had managed to vent a lot of her anger last night when she slapped him around.

"I came to wish you luck and offer you some advice." He answered with a grin.

"Huh?" She eloquently asked in confusion.

Pushing off the wall Naruto took a few steps towards her and bent over so his face was level with hers. "Contrary to what you might think, Red I do like you. You may think otherwise since I tease you a lot, but I tease all the people I like. Even my boss if you recall."

"I know," Ruby giggled as she remembered Naruto telling her how much Professor Ozpin hated being called Ozzy. "I know you aren't trying to hurt my feelings when you tease me. You actually remind me a lot of my older sister, Yang. Just don't think I'll let you get away with it!"

Smiling he continued. "I'm glad to hear that because I want you to know that I want to see you succeed, Ruby."

Hearing him call her by name rather than the nickname he seemed to prefer caused Ruby to pay him even more attention.

"I want you to remember that you belong here and that no matter what happens during your initiation, never lose faith in yourself. Unfortunately I can't tell you anything specific about your mission since we professors are discouraged from showing favoritism. Still…"

Naruto stood up and glanced around making sure the coast was clear before stepping closer to Ruby and leaning over once more to whisper in her ear.

"…I'm rooting for you regardless."

Ruby was surprised by his words and watched his face as he pulled away to see the same kind smile she saw the first time they spoke to each other at the Vale City Police Department. She gave him a massive smile of her own before nodding to him.

"Well, let's get going. Wouldn't want to be late now would we?"

"You're coming too?" She asked.

"Of course! All professors are allowed to watch the initiation ceremony. But between you and me, most prefer to only watch the ones that involve the students they favor or have some connection with. I favor you, therefore I'm going to watch you."

Ruby beamed up at him as they walked side by side. "You know you're not so bad when you're not being such a meanie."

Naruto ruffled her hair with a laugh. "Love you too, Red."

Ruby growled as she fixed her hair while glaring at his back. But even she knew her glare was forced.

XxX

First year group C were lined up on the cliff near a massive forest known as the Emerald forest that was just on the outskirts of Beacon Academy and was often used as a training ground for the students. Naruto was closer to the cliff edge standing beside Ozpin and Glynda as he took a look at the lineup and noticed a few familiar faces. A number of whom had interacted with Ruby the night before. Naruto glanced over at Ozpin who was watching him out of the corner of his eye with a small smirk.

_So that's your game._ Naruto thought. _Put, Red into a group with people she'd be most comfortable with. Though it's a little _too_ convenient that they are all in the same group. Which can only mean that she wasn't the only one you switched out._

Stepping forward, Ozpin began the initiation ceremony. "For years you have trained to become warriors. Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda took over where he left off, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates…"

_Queue dramatic pause. _Naruto mockingly thought. _And…_

"…Today."

_There it is._

Naruto took in the various faces of the students. Some looked pleased, others appeared neutral, while there were a few, like Ruby who looked nervous.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." Ozpin continued. "So it will be in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you will work well."

_Oh look, Red's turning white._

"That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin concluded.

"What!?" Ruby cried out, but was ignored. She glanced over at Naruto and saw the blonde give her an apologetic look. She knew he had to at least appear to be impartial, but would it have really been too much to ask for a little bit of a warning.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern part of the forest." Ozpin said as he explained the first years' mission. "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die."

_Dust, you're such a drama-queen, Ozzy._

Since the Emerald Forest was a training ground for students it was carefully monitored to ensure there were no Grimm ranked higher than mid-C class. Any time a Grimm higher than that made it into the forest one of the professors would go out and deal with it.

"You will be graded and monitored for the duration of your initiation." Ozpin continued his explanation gesturing to Glynda and then Naruto who waved his scroll at the students with a cheerful smile. "But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and bring it back to the top of the cliff. Glynda, Naruto, anything you wish to add?"

Glynda remained silent whilst Naruto happily told the students to not die.

"Great advice, Naruto." Ozpin commented in the same dull tone. What fun was being a teacher if you couldn't screw with the students? "Now any questions?"

Jaune raised his hand. "Um, yeah, sir?"

"Good!" Ozpin praised, completely ignoring Jaune. "Now take your positions."

"Um, uh, sir? I got a, um question." Jaune tried again as the platforms started launching the students into the forest. "So this a, landing strategy thing. What is it exactly? You're just dropping us off?"

"No, you will be falling." Ozpin answered dispassionately.

"Oh, I see…so did you like, hand out parachutes for us?"

"No," Ozpin stated sounding uninterested. "You will be using your own landing strategy."

"Ah-huh, yeah." Jaune said sounding uncertain. Ruby was just about to be launched when Naruto waved at her and gave her a thumbs up. "So what exactly is a landing strategeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy!?"

Naruto snorted as he and the other two turned to watch the students as they flew off into the Emerald Forest. Jaune's cry was heard the whole way.

"You're such a dick sometimes, Ozzy." Naruto said with amusement. Ozpin smirked back at the blonde and took a sip of his coffee. Naruto clicked his scroll on and started cycling through the students. When he got to Yang he couldn't help but laugh at how much fun the girl was having blasting her way over the forest.

"So have you taken any consideration towards my request?" The Headmaster asked as he clicked on his own scroll to monitor the students.

"Ask me again at the end of this groups' initiation."

"Already have your eyes on a student?" Ozpin asked while Glynda occasionally spoke up with status updates.

"Two…possibly three at the moment."

Ozpin looked actually surprised at that. "I must admit, I suspected Ruby but I didn't expect anyone else to catch your attention."

Naruto looked over at his older friend with a frown. "I'm starting to think you had ulterior motives in mind when you had me escort Ruby."

Ozpin took a sip from his coffee mug and mirthfully answered. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Beacon's Prince grumbled. "My other primary prospect would be Jaune Arc, but Ruby's sister, Yang Xiao Long looks like she'd be fun to train as well. Her personality seems to match mine."

"That's a frightening thought." Glynda remarked. "Thankfully, the two sisters are paired up already. Miss Rose with Miss Schnee and Miss Xiao Long with Miss Belladonna. So the odds of them being together on the same team has now dropped. Also Mr. Arc has formed a pair with Miss Nikos. So there is now a certainty that one of the three you've set your eyes on will not be part of your potential squad."

"You're such a buzzkill," Naruto moaned. "Besides I haven't yet decided if I'll take on a squad yet."

"Yes you have. You're just being difficult." Ozpin said as he took another sip from his coffee. "Oh look, a part of the forest is on fire."

Naruto cycled through the cameras on his scroll to find who had done that, but was forced to look up when one of the monitors had caught sight of a massive feather almost as tall as a tree fall from the sky. The three professors watched in shock as a Giant Nevermore took flight.

"What the hell is that thing doing in the Emerald Forest?" Naruto shouted. "That thing is at least a B rank!"

"This certainly doesn't bode well." Ozpin said softly.

"Who was in charge of monitoring the forest this morning?" Glynda asked.

"Bartholomew Oobleck." Ozpin answered with a cringe.

*POW*THWACK*

The Headmaster quickly found himself on the ground groaning in pain. He knew the appearance of the Nevermore spelt trouble for him.

"You put that coffee addicted, hyperactive, speed freak in charge of monitoring the Emerald Forest!?" Naruto yelled down at Ozpin while Glynda glared. She refused to say anything less she agree with her fellow blonde. That would have been a personal travesty. "The man can't sit still for thirty seconds! There's no way in hell he could have managed patiently combing through the various monitors in the forest!"

"While I'll admit that may have been an oversight on my part," Ozpin started as he picked himself up, but Naruto's rising fist quickly made him reiterate. "_Was_ a mistake that is _completely _my fault, there is a chance that the Nevermore will not go after the students. It hasn't seemed to notice them yet based on its current lack of aggression."

Naruto and Glynda glanced back at the forest and sure enough the Nevermore was swooping in to land. That behavior certainly indicated it hadn't noticed any of the students since Nevermores never engaged in combat on the ground preferring to instead kill from the air.

"Should one of us go into the forest to deal with it?" Glynda asked.

Ozpin frowned, "I would like to say yes, but there is a good possibility that your battle would draw the students' attention and risk them getting caught in the crossfire. Let it be for now. The students were told their only objective was to pair up and grab a relic. With any luck, should they encounter the Nevermore they will do their best to sneak away without it noticing."

Naruto and Glynda sighed in frustration but agreed. Nevermores had poor hearing and their vision got worse the closer they got to their prey. So long as the beast wasn't antagonized it would be easy to avoid.

Not ten minutes later saw all three professors looking at the sky in exasperation. Somehow Ruby and Weiss stumbled upon the Nevermore and thought it would be a great idea to take it for a ride since they couldn't figure out where they were or how to get to the temple housing the relics. Now the giant bird was pissed and flying around trying to get the two girls off its back. Glynda and Ozpin turned to look at Naruto who continued watching the flying Grimm with annoyance.

"…And that's the girl you want on your squad…" Glynda deadpanned.

"Glynda, don't even start with me." Naruto said irritably.

Glynda nodded. "At least you understand how foolish-"

"Wait for it…" Ozpin said to her before she could finish.

"I mean come on!? How come _I_ never thought of doing something like that!? That's awesome!" The boy exclaimed.

"…And there's the Naruto we know."

Glynda gave a heavy sigh in annoyance and not for the first time began to wonder if she was the only one with any real intelligence at the academy. A warning chime from her scroll caused her to investigate what was going on and what she discovered only made her sigh harder. "And it appears Mr. Arc and Miss Nikos have discovered the Deathstalker nest and have angered the brood mother."

"Didn't we have warnings posted at the entrance of that nest?" Ozpin asked.

"We did, apparently they were either overlooked or ignored." Glynda replied.

"Why didn't we kill that thing again?" Naruto asked.

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. "Because the cave it resides in is linked to a series of underground tunnels so there is no way to tell how large the nest is or what other Grimm could be inside. We had considered collapsing the entrance but that would likely aggravate the Deathstalker brood mother and cause it to burst through the cave-in which would have rendered the whole operation pointless."

"So now we have two B rank Grimm that are pissed and on the prowl for first year blood…that's just fan-fucking-tastic." Naruto groused as he put his scroll away. "That's it, I'm heading in there."

"You can't." Ozpin said causing Naruto to freeze. "They're two miles out. You'd never reach them in time and even if you did this is still their initiation."

Naruto rounded on him. "Fuck the initiation! The rule about us not intervening was in regards to stupid shit like Beowolves and Ursai! I can excuse the Deathstalker, but that Nevermore is there because you made a stupid call!"

"And both Grimm are now aggressive because of the stupid decisions made by the students going through initiation." Ozpin responded calmly.

"I can't believe you!" Naruto said before turning to Glynda. "Glynda! You're the voice of reason, tell your boss he's being an idiot!"

Glynda sighed, "Professor Ozpin is right. Neither beast was a threat until the students engaged them. By engaging the Grimm the students have made them part of the test."

Naruto was at a loss for words. The raging fire that had been his anger was gone leaving a cold, seeping fury in its wake. An orange glow started to emit from his body as his aura started responding to his feelings and began putting pressure on the two older professors. However, they were more experienced than he was and didn't buckle under his aura's presence.

"You're telling me that you will just calmly stand there and do nothing as a group of first years die?" The young blonde asked them harshly.

"They wouldn't be the first to die during the initiation, nor would they be the last. Now let me ask you, why do you have so little faith in them?" Ozpin questioned, his eyes boring into Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened at the accusation. The sudden shift in his emotions caused his aura to buckle as he protested, "This isn't about a lack of faith! This is about them facing something out of their league!"

Ozpin took another sip from his mug before his voice and eyes hardened. "And when has that ever stopped you from doing the same thing?"

Those words took all the wind out of Naruto's sails. He hadn't gotten to where he was as both the youngest Huntsman and teacher in recent history by doing what was within his capabilities. He had constantly strived to do his best, reach his limits, and ultimately blow past them. Time and time again he did whatever it took to succeed and didn't let the opinions of others hold him back and now here he was playing the role of a naysayer. He tried to console himself, say that this situation was different. Ruby was down there and he feared if he stood by and did nothing he would be abandoning her. But every argument he tried to make just made him sound more and more like a hypocrite.

Naruto soon realized he was caught in a dilemma that had no right answer. If he didn't go and help the first years and they died then he would have abandoned them when he could have done something to save them. But if he did go down there and dealt with the two monsters it would be like saying he didn't believe they had what it takes to survive on their own. He had learned from personal experience that not every mission would be as simple as it first appeared and that sometimes you would be forced to deal with something you weren't prepared for. How was that any different than what the students were facing now?

Naruto pulled out his scroll and checked the situation to see that eight first years, Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Blake, Ren, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Nora were all running for the cliff using the trees for cover from the Nevermore. Back at the temple with the relics he saw the Deathstalker had its stinger trapped in ice, but would soon break free. He knew the area the students were in and where they were headed. They were headed towards the ancient ruins of an old tower that he suspected they would try to use to make it to the cliff. Naruto shut the scroll back off and began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Glynda interrogated.

"To take a leak! What? Do you want to hold my hand and watch?" He responded still more than a little angry.

Glynda scoffed at his crude remark before noticing that he didn't head towards the locker room, but instead followed the cliff. "Professor Ozpin, isn't that…"

"The direction of the tower ruins? Yes, it is."

"Shouldn't we stop him?"

Ozpin smiled as he returned his attention back to the scroll. "No. He won't intervene unless the students are in absolute peril. This is just his solution to a question he didn't know the answer to."

XxX

Naruto began running when he was far enough from his two colleagues. The tower ruins were still a ways off and he knew the students would reach it before him. He still wasn't certain about what he was going to do nor did he know how he felt about Glynda and Ozpin's rather clinical approach to the situation. Student death during the initiation was actually quite rare. At worst a student may be scarred for life or injured badly enough to end their careers as potential Huntsmen or Huntresses. So the fact that his two colleagues seemed to be content to sit back and do nothing while a large number of students were in danger left him more than a little unsettled.

_One thing's for certain. _Naruto thought. _Assuming nothing bad comes of this, their lives will be very miserable for the foreseeable future._

The call of the Nevermore grabbed his attention and Naruto was just in time to see it swoop low into the central tower. He ran up to the cliff edge to assess the situation and saw four figures quickly scaling the falling debris to a more stable section of the ruins. He glanced over at the Deathstalker to see the other four students fending it off. He was still a bit of a ways off, but at least he could see the eight students were holding their own.

He continued his rush towards the ruins and used his scroll to monitor the fights. Jaune's team seemed to be in the most danger when the Deathstalker freed its stinger from the stone it had been stuck in causing the section of the bridge they were on to become unsteady. The blonde first year lead the charge with his partner to fend off the claws and expose the creature's face for Nora to unload her grenade launcher on. In an attempt to continue attacking the students, the Deathstalker used its stinger once more but Ren grabbed hold of it before the beast could pull it back and began firing pointblank at the joint connecting the stinger with the rest of its tail.

The Deathstalker was overwhelmed and quickly tried to remove one of the threats by wildly swinging its tail to shake Ren off and toss the boy away. Naruto watched on the scroll as the black hair boy slammed into a stone wall. He cringed knowing the boy would be hurting, but Ren had shown an aptitude for aura and Naruto knew that it had likely absorbed most of the impact. He honestly felt Ren got the last laugh however when Jaune ordered Pyrrha to finish what he had started and severed the stinger causing it to pierce the bone-plate and ended the beast with Nora bringing the hammer down on it after an assisted high jump thanks to the red hair amazon. The heavy impact from the hammer turned the already unstable bridge into a see-saw and launched Jaune and Pyrrha over the Deathstalker's body and back to safety. Nora pulled the trigger on her hammer launching her over the Grimm while sending it into the chasm below. Ren managed to stumble over to them before collapsing and now there was only one B rank Grimm left.

While Jaune's team had been fighting, Ruby had approached Blake, Yang, and Weiss with a plan of her own. Weiss, Blake, and Ruby regrouped to prepare while Yang continued launching blasts from her gauntlets aiming specifically for the creature's head and managing to land a shot at one of its many eyes causing the massive bird to fly towards her and attempt to swallow her whole. Yang leapt up and used her left hand and both legs to keep the beast's beak open where she proceeded to send blast after blast down its throat. The blasts themselves didn't seem to do too much damage but they did cause enough pain to distract the Nevermore into crashing against the cliff face after Yang leapt out of its beak.

From there, Weiss moved in to freeze the bird's tail feathers to the ground and quickly moved back to the rest of the group where Blake and Yang created a makeshift slingshot using the elastic ribbon of Blake's weapon. Ruby used her weapon to launch herself up to the ribbon and let gravity pull her and her weapon back towards Weiss who caught the younger girl in a glyph and took aim. Not a moment later, Ruby was catapulted forward and managed to hook the blade of her scythe around the Nevermore's neck. Weiss then drew upon her semblance to generate a line of cliffs to hold Ruby to the cliff face. The young Huntress-in-training proceeded to use a combination of Weiss' glyphs and the high-velocity firing capabilities of her own weapon to drag the beast up the cliff and behead it.

Ruby landed on top of the cliff and let the adrenaline slowly leave her body. She was startled when she heard one person clapping. Looking up she stared face to face with Naruto.

"Not bad, Red. I gotta admit I was worried when I saw those two Grimm over the monitor, but you and your friends handled yourselves well."

Before Ruby could respond they were interrupted by a chime from Naruto's scroll. The blonde answered it and saw Ozpin staring back.

"I see everything went well after all." He said.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said with a wave of his hand. "Ruby made it up the cliff and considering what they all just did I feel that concludes the initiation so I'm going to guide the others to the next area of ascent."

Ozpin nodded. "Very well, Glynda and I must monitor three more groups so we'll see you later at the ceremony."

"Right," Naruto said with a nod. "Oh! I promised you an answer by the end of this initiation, didn't I?"

"Indeed you did."

The young professor glanced over at Ruby and smiled before turning back to Ozpin. "The answer is, yes."

XxX

It was later that evening when everyone was gathered in the assembly hall where the teams were being announced. Naruto stood at the back of the stage alongside Peter and the other professors of the school as each group was called up, given their designation, and assigned an advisor. Ozpin stood front and center as the announcer of the ceremony.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as, Team CRDL. Lead by Cardin Winchester. Your squad commander and advisor is, Professor Peter Port."

Naruto looked over at his elderly friend with surprise amidst the applause.

"A last minute decision." Peter said giving him a friendly wink before stepping forward to greet his new squad.

"I was impressed with your showing during the initiation. Your fierce tenacity on the field has inspired me to take on a team once more! With your youthful talent and my vast experience I promise you all that you will reach your full potential and make true Huntsmen out of you!" Peter declared jovially. The four member of Team CRDL gave a short bow to him and followed him off the stage.

As they left Ozpin started calling the next team forward. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as, Team JNPR. Led by, Jaune Arc."

Naruto smiled at the bewildered expression on the boy's face. It was clear he hadn't expected to be named team leader. It was a shame the boy lacked the confidence he needed to see just how much potential he had. He suspected Team JNPR's advisor would have the compassion to bring out that talent.

"Your team commander and advisor will be, Professor Glynda Goodwitch."

Or not.

_Guess it will be the tough love route for Jaune._ He thought to himself as Glynda stepped forward.

"At the start of the initiation I wasn't sure what to think of you four, but I feel you have shown your true talent and potential at the end. Together I will seek to hone your talent," She said glancing at Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha. "And further develop it." She sternly finished looking hard at Jaune who gulped in fear.

_Very tough love._

The four students gave a slight bow to Glynda and followed her off the stage.

"And to finish off first year Group C we have Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as, Team RWBY. Led by Ruby Rose."

Naruto noted the shocked look on Weiss and the neutral one on Blake. Ruby seemed surprised while Yang looked proudly at her sister. Weiss quickly schooled her features, but Naruto could see the repressed resentment in her body language.

_Power dynamics…what a pain in the ass._

"Your team commander and advisor will be, Professor Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto stepped forward as all the girls looked at him with surprise. The shock quickly ended when Yang threw her fist in the air and shouted. "Yes! We got the Prince of Beacon!"

Naruto snorted as Blake elbowed Yang's side getting the girl to quickly get back in formation, but nothing could keep the self-satisfied grin off her face. Ruby was also smiling while Weiss and Blake maintained their professionalism having not really gotten to know him yet.

"Unlike the other professors I saw your performance at the end of your initiation first hand. You played to your strengths well and did a fantastic job relying on your teammates to cover your weaknesses. Teamwork of that level rarely comes naturally and is something I hold in high regard. Your unconventional plan at the end is also one that should be highly commended as it would have never succeeded had even one of you doubted the capabilities of your comrades. Together, I will strengthen your skills both as a team and as an individual."

The four girls gave him a short bow and followed him off stage while Ozpin moved on to the next group. He led them out of the assembly hall and outside to the fountain in front of the school.

"Why didn't you tell me you would be our advisor, Naruto?" Ruby asked and received a light smack on the back of the head from Weiss. Glaring she said. "What was that for?"

"Don't call our commander by his first name! He's a professor you dunce!"

"Actually, Weiss I have no problem with being called by my first name and even told Red to do it when we're alone." Naruto said as he took a seat on the edge of the fountain.

"Huh?"

"I'm not a fan of titles. Even the "Prince of Beacon" is kind of embarrassing." He said feeling slightly self-conscious. "When it's just the five of us, I expect you all to call me Naruto. Save the titles for people who actually care."

"So…why are we out here?" Yang asked looking around. "Not that I don't like the mood, it's kind of romantic."

"Yeah, I can see why guys like to bring girls out here to make-out and here I have four." Naruto agreed receiving a scandalized look from Weiss, a roll of the eyes from Blake, and a blush from Ruby. "But seriously? This is supposed to be a meet and greet. Most professors introduce themselves and get to know their new squad members. However, we won't be doing that today."

He received four confused stares and decided to elaborate.

"You four had a rough day today and I can see the exhaustion in your eyes. So we'll save our introductions for our first training session on Wednesday. Instead I'll give you my contact information and send you on your way so you can get to bed early."

The four girls gave him a thankful look.

"So, as we've established, I'm Naruto and my office is in the South Hall of the academy, first floor, room nine. You can usually find me in my office most weekdays when I'm not training myself or teaching a class dealing with the bane of human existence known as paperwork. Weekends can be hit or miss as I have a lot of business in Vale that requires my attention. As members of my squad, my door will always be open to you and you won't have to make an appointment. With that said and done, I bid you ladies goodnight and will see you either Tuesday for Field Survival or earlier should you feel the need to stop by my office."

The four girls bid him goodnight and made their way to the first year dorms. Tomorrow would mark the first day of Team RWBY.

XxX

That same night in a warehouse, Roman Torchwick was looking over a map of Vale analyzing the plans he had been given when a man in white armor and a grey faceplate rolled up a crate to him. Roman handed the man five cards loaded with enough lien to cover the cost of the job he had the White Fang do.

"Open it." He ordered. The man did so and revealed layer after layer of Dust crystals. He studied the crate and considered how much Dust he currently had in his possession as well as the end game he was working towards. "We're going to need more men."

The white armored foot soldier nodded and left the room. Roman glanced over at a shadowed section of the warehouse where a man with two large black wings stood with his arms crossed.

"I don't suppose you would be able to get us more help." Roman said to him.

"Konoha is here to oversee your operation's success and keep you from procrastinating in an attempt to milk more profit. We are not your errand boys." The figure said uninterested.

"The operation would go faster if your little Faunus kingdom would take a more prominent role."

"We don't care for how soon the operation is completed, so long as it is."

"With that kind of attitude is a surprise the beasts get anything done." Roman said in annoyance.

"If this operation is too much for you, we can always find a replacement." The man said with an underlying threat in his tone.

"Relax, I know when not to break a deal. The plan will be completed, it would just be quicker with Konoha's assistance."

"So long as we're clear." The man said before leaving.

XxX

The next morning Naruto was walking beside Ozpin and Glynda as it was his free period that day with his first class not taking place till ten in the morning. Ozpin and Glynda were feeling slightly on edge in the blonde's presence. The boy was way too cheerful considering how upset he had been with them the day before.

"I must say, I was surprised you chose to take Team JNPR as your squad, Glynda." Naruto happily commented. "I don't think I've ever heard of you taking a team before."

"I haven't," She answered keeping a careful eye on her fellow professor. "But most of Team JNPR are already well off, it is Mr. Arc who is behind and I feel a strict hand will be just what he needs to get into shape. Also, from what I've seen, Miss Nikos will take him under her wing if she hasn't already."

"Hmm," Naruto hummed thoughtfully. "Oh look, there are our teams now! Seems they're running late already on the first day."

Ozpin took a sip from his coffee while Glynda looked down at her watch and sighed.

"I expected this sort of behavior from your team," She said getting an annoyed look from Naruto. "But for my team to act in such a manner as well?"

"Oh get off your high-horse." Naruto commented. "I swear if you were any more of a hard-ass you would be able to kill Grimm with just a bum rush."

Ozpin snorted into his coffee and earned himself a hit from Glynda's riding crop. She was about to assault Naruto when a moan drew their attention.

"Ozzzzzzzzpiiiiiiinnnnnn~"

"That's my cue. Have fun you two." Naruto said before running off.

"OZZZZZZZPIIIIIIIIIN~" The moan grew louder.

Ozpin and Glynda looked to see a disorderly Bartholomew approaching them. His green hair was pointing every which way with his shirt halfway tucked in and his buttons misaligned. He moved so slowly he was literally dragging his feet and looked ready to collapse at any second.

"By the Dust! Bartholomew, what happened?" Ozpin asked approaching the shambling professor. He already feared the answer.

"Deeeeeeeeeecaaaaaaaaaaffffffffffff~" He moaned as he reached for Ozpin. That wasn't quite the answer he expected, but it at least explained the man's state.

"Decaf? Who in the world…oh no." Naruto.

"Cooooffffffffffffeeeeeeeeee~" Bartholomew groaned lunging for Ozpin's mug. "Giiiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvveeeeeeee meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~"

Ozpin used his foot to keep him at bay while holding his mug as far away as possible. Glynda tried to assist her boss by holding the shuffling professor back. Despite being two on one Bartholomew was putting up one hell of a struggle.

"This coffee is a special blend flown in directly from Atlas! Do you have any idea how much it costs!?" Ozpin said continuing to fight his faculty member off.

"COOOOOFFFFFFFFEEEEEEE!"

XxX

It was nearing the end of the day and Naruto had just finished with his last class. Unlike most professors who taught up to five or six classes a day two to three times a week, he only taught three classes two times every other week. Two of his classes dealt with field survival and was open to first and second years. It was a required course to better prepare the students for extended missions that they would receive in their third and fourth year where they would have to make camp rather than sleep at an inn. It dealt with many subjects such as foraging, trapping, tracking, navigation, field medicine, and the like. His second class was in weapon engineering and was an elective open to all years and was the class he had just finished teaching. It focused on the strengths and weaknesses in a student's chosen armament and focused on increasing their chances of success in battle my limiting or finding ways to counter the students' shortcomings. Shame none of Team RWBY chose to take it this semester. Oh well, he'd impress its importance to them on their first training session Wednesday.

Looking at the clock he saw Peter's last class would be starting in ten minutes and decided to pop in and watch. The man had wanted to discuss a few ideas on collaborating their classes and Naruto figured he'd talk to him after he finished teaching for the day. He left his classroom and started walking across the campus waving to the students that greeted him. He was halfway to his destination when his scroll gave a chime. However, unlike the normal chime this one was designed to alert the recipient that the call was an emergency. Clicking it on he was greeted by the haggard appearance of Ozpin with a loud banging in the background and some groaning he couldn't make out.

"Naruto Uzumaki! You will give Bartholomew back his normal blend of coffee or I will-"

*CLICK*

Naruto happily hung up on his boss and continued his stroll with a skip in his step. As he approached the door to Peter's class he ran into Team RWBY just as they were about to enter.

"Hello girls. I take it this is your last class for the day?"

The four nodded.

"What brings you here, Mr. Prince? Can't keep away from us?" Yang teased.

"What girl doesn't like seeing Prince Charming as often as possible?" Naruto countered with a grin to match Yang's. Being called the "Prince of Beacon" may have been embarrassing, but it did have its perks.

"Does that mean you're here to sweep us off our feet?" She asked leaning forward with her eyes fluttering.

Naruto stepped up to her and wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her close before bringing his free hand up to trace it gently down her cheek. Softly he asked her, "You mean I haven't already?"

The three other members of Team RWBY stared at in shock with varying shades of red on their cheeks as the two openly flirted with one another. Weiss' hand shot up as she pointed at them and angrily stuttered out. "In-in-inappropriate! You two are being completely inappropriate!"

Yang and Naruto stared at each other for a few more seconds before pulling away from each other laughing loudly bringing on a round of confusion for the others.

"Relax, Weiss we were only messing around. We weren't being serious."

"Aww, you wound me, Yang." Naruto said clutching his heart. Yang grinned and lightly punched his arm. "But she's right, Weiss. Besides I think you have something more important to worry about."

"Huh? Like what?" She asked as the bell went off signaling the start of class.

"Like being late twice in one day." He answered her with a knowing grin. The four members of Team RWBY looked at his with comically wide eyes before running into the classroom.

Peter watched them rush to their seats and was about to chastise them when Naruto walked in. "Sorry, Pete. My fault. I had some things to discuss with my squad."

Peter looked at him and smiled. "Ah, Naruto my boy. What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here today?"

"Since we didn't get to talk yesterday I figured I'd stop by so we could discuss that thing you wanted after class."

"Of course!"

"Right," Naruto said as he started climbing the stairs to the top of the classroom. "Don't mind me then, I'll just be sitting in the back."

Class started much as anyone would expect the first day of any class to go with Peter taking attendance, introducing himself, passing out a syllabus, and outlining the major assignments the students would have over the semester. While this was going on, Naruto took note of a steel cage that occasionally rattled off to the side of Peter's classroom. Once the pleasantries and paperwork were out of the way did Peter really begin to teach his class.

"Monsters! Deeeemons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names. But I merely refer to them as prey!" Peter exclaimed jubilantly. Naruto glanced down at his squad and was annoyed to see Blake and Yang paying little attention while Ruby had been sleeping propped up on her arm before Peter gave a cheerful cry. Weiss was the only one who seemed to take the class seriously.

Peter seemed to notice how unimpressed his class was. "Uuuuh…And you shall two upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now as I was saying," He said as he began pacing the floor. "Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our world is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces. And that's where we come in, Huntsmen, Huntresses."

Yang groaned when Peter winked at her and Naruto face-palmed.

_Dammit, Pete. Did you just seriously hit on my student while I'm in the classroom? Now I'm obligated to prank your ass for that._ He thought.

"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves," Peter continued unaware of the chaos he had cast upon his future. "From what you ask? Why, the very world!"

Naruto snorted as one student actually stood up and gave a cheer before quickly sitting back down when everyone started looking at him.

"That is what you're training to become. But first, a story." The elderly professor said before regaling the class with a tale from his youth.

_Oh Dust, Pete! Not the wolf story again. Over thirty years of experience and you always tell the same damn story._ Naruto cringed. His focus was drawn to his squad and he nearly slammed his head on the desk in front of him as he watched Ruby goof off much to the amusement of Blake and Yang.

"So," Peter said having concluded his story and expressing it's so called moral. "Who among you feels they are the embodiment of these traits."

Naruto wasn't surprised to see Weiss raise her hand and claim that she was.

"Well then, let's find out." Peter said as he gestured to the cage on the side of the room. "Step forward and face your opponent."

Weiss left to grab her equipment and to get changed while Naruto got up from his seat and made his way over to Peter.

"So, what's this idea you had in mind?" Naruto asked getting a quirked eyebrow from Peter.

"I thought you were going to wait till after class."

The blonde shrugged. "That was before I knew you were going to put on a demonstration. I'd say we have a few minutes to kill until Weiss gets back."

Peter stroked his mustache. "Indeed. As you know, I cover regional Grimm starting on the fourth week of class. Normally I must use a combination of the textbook, a slide presentation, and some old video footage. However, over the last summer break I managed to trap three Quetz-Coatals and figured a live demonstration would be in order. Unfortunately I'm not as spry as I once was so I was curious if you'd be willing to face them."

"Hmm, three isn't really enough to cover all your classes. I'm assuming you're just going to have them all come and watch the presentation at the same time?"

"You assume correctly." Peter agreed. "I have training ground thirty-one on hold at the moment and just needed to know your answer before I can officially reserve it."

Naruto looked thoughtful. Training ground thirty-one could project a force field so it would keep the students safe as they observed the match. "Sounds good, what day were you thinking?"

"Friday, what better way to end a week than with a good old fashioned Grimm hunt?"

"A little monster slaying to kick off the weekend. What more could I ask for?"

"Great!" Peter cheered. "I'll be sure to let Professor Ozpin know as soon as possible."

"Yeah…about that," Naruto said. "Might want to wait until tomorrow. I hear he's pretty busy today."

Peter gave his young counterpart a knowing look. "What did you do?"

XxX

At the top of Beacon's tower Ozpin sat cowering under his desk holding five tin cans filled with his special blend of coffee. His jacket sleeve had been torn off, the rest of his clothes were mussed up, and his hair was in disarray. He was rocking himself back and forth and flinched every time he heard a bang on his office door.

"Cooooooffffffffffffeeeeeeeeee~"

Ozpin wanted to cry. He barely escaped Bartholomew this morning and now he was trapped in his office as the man attacked his door. The headmaster prayed the magnetic locks on his office door could keep the man out.

"Ozzzzzzzzzzzpiiiiiiiiiiiin~"

"Go after Naruto, Bartholomew! He's the one who switched out your coffee!" Ozpin shouted.

"Cooooooffffffffffeeeeeeeee fffffffiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrsssssssssttttt~" The man groaned.

"No! You'll drink it all and this stuff is worth a small fortune!" He yelled back.

The banging stopped, but only for a moment before it came back with a vengeance.

"COOOOOOFFFFFFEEEEEEEEE~"

XxX

"Oh…nothing too bad." Naruto said with an overly innocent smile.

"My instincts are telling me otherwise." Peter deadpanned as he grabbed his blunderbuss-axe. Further conversation was ended as Weiss reappeared dressed for combat. As she took her position the other members of Team RWBY cheered for her.

"Go Weiss!" Yang.

"Fight well!" Blake.

"Yeah! Represent Team RWBY!" Ruby. However her cheer seemed to set Weiss off.

"Ruby! I'm trying to concentrate!" She harshly chastised.

Naruto sighed to himself. It was clear to him now Weiss wasn't fighting to show herself off as a Huntress. She was doing it to prove to herself that she was a more qualified leader. He didn't hold it against her, she clearly took her training more seriously than Ruby seemed to. But at the same time he didn't hold _that_ against Ruby. Ruby was still young and needed time and proper guidance to help her mature. Neither side was wrong, per say. Weiss was being too quick to judge and Ruby had yet to truly realize the burden of leadership. He knew he should have talked to them last night, but had put it off. Now he vowed to speak to each of them alone after class ended.

"All right," Peter called getting the class' attention. "Let the match…begin!"

Peter uses his blunderbuss-axe to cut off the lock on the cage revealing an enraged Boarbatusk that immediately locked its eyes on Weiss and charged. The Schnee heiress waited till the last second to pivot to the side and slash her rapier against the beast, but failed to penetrate the bone plating on its side.

"Ha, ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Peter commented.

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby cheered. Naruto continued to watch the battle and analyzed Weiss' performance. He watched with a frown as she used her semblance to meet the creature's charge with one of her own and cringed when her weapon slid off the beast's faceplate and became wedged between its massive tusks.

"Bold, new approach! I like it!" Peter cheered.

"That wasn't bold, that was stupid and reckless." Naruto quietly whispered to the man. Peter sent him a sideways glance before quietly speaking back.

"I know that and you know that, but right now she is the one fighting and criticizing her actions during the battle would only serve to hinder her. Remember, Naruto these are students. Not fully trained Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"I know that." He said with a huff. The look on Peter's face told him the man doubted him. Even after two years of teaching, Naruto had a tendency think of the students the same way he thought of the Huntsmen and Huntresses he once fought alongside.

Ruby cheered for her teammate again causing Weiss to glare in her direction and lose her focus on the battle at hand. The Boarbatusk took advantage of her distraction to jerk its head back and to the side to unbalance its opponent before swing its head back and sending Weiss' weapon away. It followed up with a quick lunge and struck the girl hard enough to send her a good distance back.

"Ho, ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Peter rhetorically asked her. Weiss managed to push herself up to her hands and knees and looked up with frightened eyes to see the beast baring down on her. She threw herself to the side narrowly avoiding its charge before getting to her feet and running for her weapon. The Boarbatusk was unable to stop itself in time and slammed face first into the first row of desks before losing its balance and rolling onto its side.

As Weiss reclaimed her weapon, Ruby spoke out once more. "Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor unde-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" She yelled back at the younger girl. Ruby clearly looked upset, having no idea why Weiss was yelling at her.

The creature of Grimm went berserk at its multiple failed attempts at killing the girl before it leapt in the air and started rapidly spinning forward like some sort of demonic wheel. Despite having yelled at the younger girl Weiss seemed to accept her assessment and used a glyph to create a wall for the beast to slam into. As the beast fell on its back the young heiress back flipped up to a second glyph and used it as a launching point to bury her blade deep into the beast's exposed belly, finally slaying it.

"Bravo! Bra-vo!" Peter cheered. "It seems we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings. Class dismissed."

Naruto watched his student stomp out of the room and quickly noticed Ruby watch her go spending a few moments thinking to herself before saying a quick goodbye to her other teammates and getting up to go after her.

"Sorry, Pete. Wish I could stay and chat, but something important has come up."

"So I saw," He said walking to his desk to gather his things. "This will be your first true test as a Squad Commander, Naruto. Be sure to handle it with care. You can't treat the students like you would a fellow Huntsman or Huntress."

"I'll be sure to remember that." Naruto said before heading out. Peter watched his young friend leave before glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. If he hurried, he'd still be able to watch the sun set over Vale.

XxX

Naruto sought out the two girls of his squad, but had lost sight of them. By the time he did manage to locate them he was just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation.

"Not a team, led by you." He managed to hear Weiss say causing Ruby to look downtrodden. "I've studied _and_ trained! And frankly, I deserve better!"

Ruby tried to say something, but Weiss' final words crushed whatever she had to say.

"Ozpin made a mistake."

Naruto waited for the Schnee heiress to leave before approaching the leader of Team RWBY. Ruby turned to walk the other way, but was caught by surprise to see Naruto behind her.

"Well that could have gone better." He said.

"Is she right? Did Ozpin make a mistake?"

Naruto gave her a reassuring smile. "I don't see how he could. He wasn't the one to make you Team RWBY's leader."

"Huh?" The girl asked looking surprised.

"Ruby, why don't you follow me to my office. We have a few things we need to discuss." He said leading her away. Weiss would have to wait. The sooner he spoke with Ruby, the sooner he could set her on the right path. Once that was done, dealing with Weiss would be a much simpler matter.

"By the way, Naruto. Where is Professor Ozpin? I haven't seen him since this morning?" Ruby innocently asked as she followed behind him. Naruto didn't answer her. He just smiled.

XxX

Meanwhile at the top of the Beacon's tower in the Headmaster's office, Ozpin's scroll gave off the emergency chime prompting him to answer it at once.

"Glynda!?" He cried out amidst the constant thuds on his door.

"Sir! I have returned from Vale after hitting every shop for as much coffee as I can!" She decreed. "The chefs are currently preparing it as we speak and we will have it brought up to your office as soon as possible!"

"Commission as many low ranking missions as you can to get assistance from the students!" He ordered. "The magnetic locks are failing and I will _not_ let Naruto have the satisfaction of seeing me lose my precious coffee!"

"As you command, sir!"

Glynda hung up to carry out his orders while Ozpin pulled his five tin coffee cans closer. "You will pay for this, Naruto. You have crossed the line on this one and you _will _suffer!"

The Headmaster cackled with maniacal laughter as plans of retaliation formed in his head. Being trapped in a single room at the top of a tower with a crazed caffeine addicted zealot banging on your door could crack the sanity of any person.

XxX

Weiss had walked out onto one of the verandas of Beacon where she spotted Professor Port. He looked like he was enjoying himself staring out over Vale and she didn't want to disturb him, but she also wanted to hear his evaluation of her performance. Working up her courage she approached him and called out his name.

"Ah, Miss Schnee! And to what do I owe this fine pleasure?" The man asked with a polite bow.

"I-I enjoyed your lecture."

"Of course you did, child. You have the blood of a true Huntress in you!"

"You really think so?" She asked happy for the man's praise. However, his praise for her talent as a Huntress also reminded her that she wasn't the leader of her team.

"Hmm, something's troubling you." He hummed. It was clear that Naruto had yet to talk to the girl. Odds were he was currently speaking with Miss Rose, but perhaps he could help his fellow professor out with Miss Schnee.

"Yes…sir." Weiss hesitantly stated.

"Dear girl, confess to me your strife." He already knew her problem, but needed her to air it out in the open before handling it.

"Well…sir, I feel I should have been made the leader of Team RWBY."

_And so, here we go._ He thought before boldly saying. "That's preposterous."

"Excuse me?" Weiss nearly shouted shocked at the man's words.

"If there is one person in this entire academy that understands leadership as well as Professor Ozpin, it's Professor Uzumaki."

Now Weiss was really thrown for a loop. "Wait, what? What does Professor Uzumaki have to do with this?"

"My dear girl, who do you think is in charge of managing the team you find yourself on? He is your commanding officer and as such he is the one who handle's your team's affairs."

Weiss huffed before crossing her arms. "Well that explains it."

"I'm sorry?" Peter asked suddenly confused.

"He's clearly playing favorites!" She accused. "He knew Ruby before she came to Beacon and just before your class he was flirting with her sister!"

"Miss Schnee," Peter started with a hardened tone. His sudden change of demeanor left Weiss feeling unsettled. "I understand you're upset, but I would advise you to think carefully before accusing Professor Uzumaki of playing favorites." Weiss noted he said nothing about the flirting. "While my young counterpart still has a lot to learn about being a teacher, I've already told you he ranks second to the Headmaster when it comes to understanding leadership. You may know him as the youngest Huntsman in recent history, but do you know how young he was when he earned his liscence."

Weiss slowly shook her head no.

"Sixteen." Peter answered much to her surprise. "He didn't start teaching at Beacon until he was eighteen and that was only after repeated requests from Professor Ozpin. For two years that boy was out on the field fighting Grimm you aren't yet ready to face, killing both man and monster in order to keep this world safe, and being forced to sacrifice his fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses in order to ensure the safety of the people he was tasked to save. And he did it all while you were still learning the basics and preparing yourself to eventually come to this esteemed academy. Now you tell me, does that sound like someone who would make such a foolish mistake as to play favorites with a team of future Huntresses?"

Weiss shook her head with more fervor this time. She still wasn't sure what to make of Naruto as a teacher, but she could say she had a newfound respect for him as a Huntsman. Truth be told she had always assumed he had gotten his license as a Huntsman and had become a teacher as soon as possible. Hearing he'd been fighting for two years before coming to Beacon against greater threats than she had ever faced was certainly a shock.

"I'm glad you understand. However, we've gotten off topic. You claim that you should be the leader of your team, but you seem to fail to grasp just what it means to be a leader. Much like Miss Rose."

"How dare you!" Weiss raged. How could he put her in the same boat as that immature child?

"My point exactly," Peter countered. "Here we are less than a day after the teams have been formed and you're already making judgments about the members of your own team and its commander in a manner that paints you in the best light never once considering your own faults."

"That isn't even remotely true." Weiss protested. However despite that she remember Ruby calling her out on her attitude in the Emerald Forest as well. Seeing Professor Port stare her down made her shoulders slouch before she reluctantly admitted. "Well…not entirely true."

Peter gave the girl a small smile at her admittance before continuing. "So the outcome didn't fall in your favor. Do you really think acting in such a manner will cause those in power to reconsider their decision?" Weiss quietly shook her head as her posture became less defensive. "So instead of fretting over what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skill, prefect your technique, and become not the best _leader_ but the best _person_ you can be."

Weiss gave the hefty professor a small smile. He had a point. If she could choose between being the best leader or the best person, she'd rather be the best person.

"Now I believe it's time I grab some dinner, but before I go I have one more piece of advice for you," Peter said. "Go and speak with your commander. See for yourself that he is more than you man you seem to think he is."

Weiss looked hesitant at that idea, but slowly nodded her head before walking off. As Peter watched her leave he said quietly to himself. "The rest is up to you, my friend."

XxX

Ruby followed Naruto into his office and took a moment to look around. It was fairly bare of any personalization in her mind. A few shelves held books and a couple of picture frames housed his license as a Huntsman as well as a few awards he won. Off in the corner was a workbench with an eight inch long ornate cylinder a little larger in circumference than a soda can with a pair of pliers, a screwdriver, and some wires around it. On the wall facing the desk was a dartboard housing three throwing knives centered on the bull's-eye. Another wall played home to a large map of Remnant with different colored pins decorating its surface. Nowhere did she see any pictures of family or friends.

Naruto walked up to the front of his desk and turned to lean against it before motioning Ruby to take a seat in one of the two chairs before him. She did so and looked up at her commander to see him staring back at her with a neutral gaze that soon had her fidgeting.

Sighing, he asked. "Ruby, do you know why Weiss was upset with you?"

"She said she didn't feel I should be leader of Team RWBY…" The young girl answered pressing her fingers together and looking at the floor.

"And do you know why she felt that way?"

Ruby shook her head.

"Well let me make it easy for you. Care to show me the notes you took during Pete's class?" Naruto asked her knowing she didn't have any.

Ruby flushed and tried to sink further into the chair. Quietly she admitted, "I-I don't have any…"

"I see..." He said with a pause. "What about your other classes?"

She hesitated before reaching into her bag and pulled out a couple of her notebooks before handing them to him. Naruto took them and flipped through them. Many of the subjects appeared to have gaps in the information and instead played home to a bunch of doodles. He sighed once more before handing them back to her. "Ruby, Weiss doesn't respect you as a leader because she doesn't feel you take the position seriously and from what I saw in your notes and in Pete's class I can't say I blame her."

Ruby's head shot up and she was about to protest when Naruto raised his hand gesturing for silence.

"Being a leader isn't exclusive to the battlefield. You don't just lead your team against your enemies and hang up the responsibility after the fighting ends. Leadership is a responsibility that is constantly resting on your shoulders. Take your professors for instance, do you think we ignore the students the second we exit our classroom?"

She shook her head no.

"That's right. Even outside of class or on our own personal time, we dedicate ourselves to you, students. We offer whatever advice we can and do everything we can to ensure you will always be at your best. That very same notion applies to you as well, Ruby. If you aren't doing everything you can to show your teammates that you take your position seriously, then what reason do you give them to take you seriously?"

"Are-are you going to take the position of leadership away from me?" She nervously asked.

Naruto laughed. "Hardly. This is still the first day, Ruby and nothing you've done isn't something you can't fix or learn from. Now let me ask you, do _you_ think I should take away your leadership?"

Ruby surprised him by actually taking a moment to seriously think about what he asked. She considered her actions and applied his evaluation of her performance to them. He was right, while she could have done better, nothing she had done was irredeemable. If anything it gave her an idea on where she could start becoming a better leader for Team RWBY. Looking up at him she shook her head with a smile.

"I'm glad you agree." He said before a knock came from his door.

"Professor Uzumaki? Are you in?" Weiss asked from the other side of the door.

"Just a moment, Weiss." Naruto said before looking down at Team RWBY's leader. "Be sure you keep my words in mind, Ruby. I made you leader for a reason and still believe you will lead the team well."

"Thanks, Naruto." Ruby said before standing up and walking to the door. She opened it and came face to face with Weiss. An awkward tension passed between them before Ruby quietly left and Weiss entered Naruto's office. Like Ruby had done before her, the Schnee heiress took a second to study the room before letting her eyes fall on Naruto.

"What was Ruby doing here?" She asked with curiosity.

"I never kiss and tell." Naruto teased getting a scoff from the girl. Weiss turned to leave. She should have known this was a waste of time regardless of what Professor Port had said. Naruto sighed and was beginning to wonder if he would ever do anything, but sigh when dealing with his team. Just as Weiss was reaching for the door knob he spoke. "If you must know, I was reprimanding her for her performance today."

Weiss turned and looked at him with surprise. "What? But I thought she was your friend?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, not that she could see with his goggles on. "She is, but she is also my student and the leader of my squad. This is a combat school, Weiss. Regardless of what you may think of me, I won't stand back and be negligent when it comes to my responsibilities to you or the rest of Team RWBY. The minute I chose to become your commander, I made an unspoken oath to ensure your all's safety and survival. To see you become the best Huntresses I could and to assist you in any way possible."

Weiss stepped further into the room and away from the door until she was only a few feet away from Naruto. Unlike Ruby, she didn't take a seat. She was finally beginning to see the man Professor Port held in high regard, but wasn't quite satisfied. At least, not yet. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you make Ruby the leader of Team RWBY?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. Seems she had spoken with someone before coming to him. Smirking he said. "I see you've learned it wasn't Ozzy who made that call."

Weiss blushed. "You heard that?"

"Amongst other things," He admitted dismissively causing the girl to redden further. "But to answer your question, I made Ruby the team leader because she was the one who would benefit from the position the most."

"Huh?"

"I could cite her performance and plan against the Nevermore, but that was just one instance and wasn't enough for me to choose her over the rest of you." He started crossing his arms over his chest. "The truth is, Ruby has confidence issues. Being two years younger than the rest of you plays heavily on her and she is constantly trying to live up to the self-imposed expectations she believes you all have of her…at least on the battlefield."

"That's it!?" Weiss asked annoyed that that was his reason.

"Of course not, if anything this mentality of hers will also better her development as a leader. In my experience, there are two types of leaders. The ones who listen to the concerns and ideas of their comrades and those who don't, thinking that their answer is always the right one. The first kind of leader is the one who will almost always be successful on the field because they have more than one perspective to draw on, the second may succeed, but that success can and will come at the cost of people's lives. People who didn't have to die had they been more willing to listen to others."

Weiss' annoyance was curbed at that explanation. There was a lot of logic there and she suspected it came from Naruto's many experiences.

"As I told you, Weiss. My job is to make Team RWBY the best team of Huntresses I possibly can. And making Ruby the leader is one way I will achieve that goal, at least with her. That being said, when we start to run missions I will always consider the talents and skills of the rest of the team and if I feel they would be better suited to lead during the mission I will temporarily promote them."

"You can do that?" She asked in surprise.

Naruto pointed at his self and deadpanned. "Team RWBY's commander."

"Right…" She sheepishly said.

"Anything else I can answer for you?"

Weiss took a minute to think before shaking her head. "Thanks, Professor. You know, you're not so bad when you aren't acting like a fool."

Naruto chuckled. "Ruby said something along the same lines. Though I believe she said I wasn't so bad when I wasn't being a "meanie"."

She smiled before heading to the door. As she opened it she turned to give him one last look. "Thanks again. I'll see you in class tomorrow…Naruto."

Naruto waved goodbye and waited for the door to close before sighing for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. What an exhausting first day.

**(End of chapter 2)**

**OMAKE** The Student ALWAYS Surpasses the Master

A tall man with long white spiky hair and a pair of stylish sunglasses made his way to the last office of a building located in the Kingdom of Vacuo. It was a publishing office and the man was a well-known author to a series of books with some rather suggestive content. Not that the opinions of people who weren't his fans mattered to him. Only his dedicated readers mattered and that was why he was walking to the end of the hallway to his publisher's office with a skip in his step and a very eager smile. He had just released his latest novel and no doubt his publisher was calling him in to tell him he had another massive success on his hands.

Knocking on the door he entered and jovially walked to the desk to take a seat. The man behind the desk was a stocky middle-aged man in his early forties and was nearly a decade younger than the writer with a bushy mustache and receding hairline. He was just finishing up a phone call before hanging up and turning to face the writer.

"Ah, Jiraiya. So glad you could stop by." He greeted.

Jiraiya grinned. "Let me guess what this is about, Garret. My book is flying off the shelves and you're here to renew my contract!"

Garret cleared his throat. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Jiraiya's grin fell. "Come again?"

"It seems there is a new writer on the scene and he has already published three books. All of which have been outselling even your latest Icha Icha release."

"So we have another upstart. Let him have his five minutes of fame." Jiraiya said waving his hand to dismiss the new writer. This wasn't the first time someone tried to steal his thunder. They'd have a hit or two, but would quickly fade into obscurity.

"Upstart…yes. Well, you see, Jiraiya. This "upstart" has managed to succeed where you have failed."

"…What?"

"I'm afraid unlike your novels, his has managed to bring in a female audience."

"…What!?"

"Also, unlike your novels, the reviewers have described his works as "erotic art" and claim that in comparison to his work, the Icha Icha series is just "pathetic smut fantasies from a perverted old man well outside his prime"."

"WHAT!?"

"I'm sorry, Jiraiya. You've been a treasured client of ours for many years, but the company feels it is time to let you go."

Jiraiya stood up, slammed his hands on the desk, then grabbed Garret by his suit jacket and brought him nose-to-nose. His glasses slipped down his nose revealing two angry yellow eyes with horizontal bar shaped pupils. "Give me his name! I want to meet the little shit who thinks he can ruin me!"

"I-i-it's a pen name, I don't know his real name!" Garret pleaded.

"Give me the damn name of this little upstart bastard!" The white haired toad Faunus raged.

"G-G-Gama Bakatchu." Garret stuttered out.

Jiraiya ran the name through his head countless times. Something about it nagging him.

Gama Bakatchu

Gama Bak atchu

Gama Bak at chu

Suddenly it clicked.

Gama back at you.

"Oh that little son of a bitch!" Jiraiya roared rushing out of the office. He needed to schedule a flight to Vale and kick a certain student's ass.

(**Omake End)**

And there you have it boys and girls, chapter 2 and holy shit are you guys awesome! Seriously, my email was flooded with alerts from you all. Now, let me know what you think, because I'm a little uncertain with aspects of this chapter. Also, since this is the first time we got to see Naruto act more teacher-like with Ruby and Weiss tell me if you feel I hit the mark or not. Some of you may have noticed I have basically rushed through the first half of volume 1, but rest assured there is more to come. The next 3-4 chapters will be original content before Jaune's story arc. One of my few gripes with RWBY volume 1 was how more than half of the episodes were dedicated to the first couple days at Beacon. It feels like we missed out on a lot of content.

Also, just saw the first two episodes of volume 2 and here are my comments. First, most epic food fight ever and I can't wait to throw Naruto into the mix since I'm teeming with ideas for that. Second, I friggen love Emerald. Her personality is great and she looks adorable when she gives you a friendly smile. So yeah, can't wait to see more of her. Moving on, we have a couple of teases here including the first glimpse of Naruto's personal weapon which won't be revealed until chapter 4 or 5 as well as a new(?) player assisting the bad guys. Since he hasn't been fully revealed his allusion will be kept hidden. That being said…

**Jiraiya the Gallant –** Okay seriously? Did anyone not expect this? Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru are all allusions to a folktale in Japanese history. I didn't have to do shit with him. Despite Tsunade and Orochimaru being part of the same tale I'm not certain if I'll use them in this story.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and please review. Seriously, those are like crack to me and I'm an addict! Also, next update may not come as fast as this one did since again, original content. I have to make it up and plan it out first. I have some ideas in mind though.


	3. The Prince's Power: Personal

(Chapter 3: Part 1The Prince's Power: Personal)

Ruby and Yang excitedly entered their next class alongside a curious Blake and Weiss. It was Tuesday and this would be their first day of Field Survival taught by their very own commander. The room was decorated with a lot of hard wood unlike most rooms which featured marble. The desks were mahogany and the walls were painted a forest green. Various posters depicted pictures such as plants, a sun timetable, and star charts for the different seasons. All in all, the room gave off a very woodland feel to it.

As they took their seats they saw Naruto leaning against the front of his desk flipping a throwing knife in the air before catching it on its decent and throwing it back up once more. A man with wild green hair with a fairly large coffee mug was zipping around him from one side to the next before stopping in front of him and repeating the process.

"You are…a right bastard…!" The man said pausing only to take a sip from his mug. "If you ever touch my…coffee again, I will…humiliate you in such…a way, that you will…wish you were…dead!"

Naruto looked bored as he used his free hand to pick at his ear. "I'm sorry, Bart. I couldn't make out a word you just said. You sound kind of high-strung, maybe you should cut back on drinking so much of that stuff. If you want, I could always help you with your addiction."

"Don't touch…my coffee!"

"Oh get over it! Your coffee would have stayed safe had you done your damn job and properly monitored the Emerald Forest like you were supposed to!" Naruto said in annoyance before snatching the man's mug and throwing it over his shoulder out an open window. "Now get lost, I have a class to teach."

"My coffee!" Bartholomew yelled before jumping out the window after it.

The entire class stared at the exchange dumbfounded before Jaune raised his hand and asked. "Uh, sir. Will he be okay?"

"Ah, he'll be fine." Naruto said waving the question off with his hand. A loud crash and a cry of pain could be heard from outside the window not a half-second later. "We're only on the third floor."

"Uh…huh," Jaune said doubtfully.

"Now then!" Naruto said addressing the whole class never once pausing in his knife flipping. "Welcome to Field Survival, I'm your professor for the class, Naruto Uzumaki. I know some of you may be wondering why you have to take such a stupid sounding class. I mean it sounds like I'm just here to teach you some hardcore camping. Short answer? Because it's a requirement set up by Professor Ozpin, quit your bitching and get over it."

A couple of students laughed while others looked unimpressed.

"For those actually interested in learning, this course is required because when you make it to your third and fourth years you will start taking missions that will lead you into the wilderness and deep into Grimm territory. There won't be any hotels for you and setting up a watch system for when you sleep will do you very little against the creatures that will gladly swarm you when you are at your most vulnerable." The tension in the classroom rose as Naruto seamlessly shifted from the carefree young professor to the grave toned experienced Huntsman. "Some of what you will learn may seem stupid like recognizing which plants are edible or telling the time by the placement of the sun. Others may seem more important, like telling what direction you're travelling at night via the stars, how to treat serious injuries without the proper tools, or how to set up traps and warning systems to buy you time when the Grimm come for you at night. And trust me, they _will_ come."

A few audible gulps could be heard throughout the room and even the members of Team RWBY felt a little intimidated by their commander.

"_Everything_ in this class, no matter how stupid, pointless, or redundant it may seem, _everything_ is meant to increase your odds of living during a mission. _That_ is why this class is required and that is why you will be expected to pass it with a minimal scoring of ninety percent."

All of the students were shocked by that declaration and they suspected this class would be one of the harshest classes they would be ever take. Naruto was about to continue his lecture when he saw a boy in the back of the room staring at a girl one row down and two seats over. His throwing knife had just reached the peak of its ascent before his hand shot up to grab it by the tip and he threw it with deadly accuracy. The knife whistled through the air before lodging itself into the boy's seat not a few inches from his head. The student cried out in fear and stood up from his seat to put distance between himself and the knife. The class looked wide-eyed at the knife then back at their teacher.

"I'm sorry," Naruto falsely apologized with an all too innocent smile. "I didn't realize the pretty girl you were staring at was more important than my lecture. While procreating is indeed an important aspect of the survival of Remnant's two races, it isn't a subject covered in this class. Now either pay attention or get the hell out of my classroom."

The boy quickly apologized before taking his seat, his eyes constantly drifting to the knife beside him.

"Oh, you can go ahead and keep the knife," Naruto said before rolling back over the top of his desk so that he was now standing behind it. He opened the top drawer and pulled out another throwing knife that he immediately began flipping with a smile. "I have a whole drawer of them. Now, anyone else feel like wasting my time?"

The rest of the class period passed smoothly after Naruto's little demonstration. No one wanted to be the target of one of his throwing knives. He managed to finish outlining the course and their future assignments and unlike the other professors, he didn't waste time with attendance. He believed that if you didn't care to show up, then he didn't care to teach you. He managed to make it halfway through the first chapter by the time class was about to end.

"Be sure to finish the rest of the chapter by Thursday and remember to take notes. Memorization is a key factor to passing this class." Naruto said as the bell rang. "Team RWBY, if you wouldn't mind staying after for a moment. I have something I need to discuss with you."

As the rest of the students filed out, Team RWBY approached their commander. The blonde professor was still happily flipping his knife as he took a moment to gaze at each of them. "As you know, tomorrow is our first training session as a squad. Since you're all here I figured I'd give you the details before sending you on your way."

"Just tell us what to do, Naruto!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly. While her first class with Naruto hadn't gone the way she had expected it to, she was still looking forward to getting the chance to train with a fully-fledged Huntsman.

Naruto smiled at the younger girl and ruffled her hair much to her annoyance. "My personal training ground is training ground forty-two. I expect you all to be there tomorrow at eight in the morning and come dressed for battle. Be sure to stretch before you show up, I'm sure you all have learned today how much I hate wasting time."

The four girls paled as they remembered the knife throwing incident at the start of class.

"Any questions?" He asked getting four "no's". "Alright then, I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Be sure to go to bed early tonight. You'll need all the rest you can get."

XxX

The next morning the four girls were making their way to Training Ground forty-two and were gaining a new appreciation for just how large Beacon Academy was. All around them they could hear the sounds of gunfire, yelling, and the clanging of weapons. Yet despite all the noise they would only on occasion come across a team of students training.

"So…" Yang said trying to get a conversation going. "What do you think Mr. Prince has in store for us today?"

Ruby was excitedly bouncing on the soles of her feet. "Oh, oh! I bet he'll have us beat up a King Taijitu!"

"No," Blake blandly answered.

"A herd of Beowolves?" Ruby tried again.

"Nuh-uh," Yang denied.

"A-a…Giant Nevermore?" She hesitantly suggested.

Weiss groaned. "Are you stupid? How would he even get the Grimm to the training fields to begin with? Besides, after the last Giant Nevermore, I am in no hurry to fight another one."

"Well, then what do you all think he'll have us do?" Ruby asked.

"He already told us we'd go through introductions today. So it's probably a meet and greet, then us running drills." Blake stated.

"Aww, but we ran drills all the time at Signal." Ruby whined. "I was hoping for something more exciting."

"Well, we'll find out for ourselves soon enough. We're here." Yang said leading them into the training ground. Training Ground forty-two was a wide open grassy field with plenty of room to move about freely and outlined by trees. As they made it to the center of the field they saw Naruto leaning against a well towards the back corner of the field with his arms folded. He soon noticed their approach and glanced up at the sky before looking back at them with a smile.

"Good, you're all about ten minutes early. After what happened Monday, I had some concerns." He teased getting the girls to give him a sheepish look. "Well, no time like the present so go ahead and get comfortable." He said waiting for the girls to sit down. "While I've gotten to know some of you, there are those I haven't yet gotten the chance to speak with so before we begin let's go around and introduce ourselves. Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future. You know, things like that."

"Maybe you should go first since you're the teacher here, Prince." Yang grinned at him

"You just want to know all my dirty little secrets," He shot back before going through his introduction. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like pranks, training, my precious people, my motorcycle, and the food of the gods, Ramen! My dislikes are paperwork, people who are judgmental, and worst of all, traitors. My dreams for the future…making you four the best damn Huntresses to graduate from Beacon."

Team RWBY wasn't sure what to make of that introduction. He seemed to be a mix of serious and carefree, but it did seem to fit his personality when they considered their past interactions with him.

"Okay, now it's your turn. Let's start from the left and work our way down the line." He said pointing at Yang.

"Hi! I'm Yang Xiao Long! My likes are my baby sister, Ruby," She said wrapping an arm around her sister nuzzling her hair with a smile much to her sister's embarrassment. "Punching things in the face, _my_ motorcycle, trying to make the Prince of Beacon blush, oh! And strawberry sunrises with cute little umbrellas! Hmm…I don't have too many dislikes, I guess old men hitting on me would be one and people picking on my baby sister would be another. My dream for the future is to graduate from Beacon and beat up a hell of a lot of Grimm!" She finished with a smile.

Naruto nodded his head sagely, "Punching something in the face is indeed a pleasure few people appreciate."

"I know right?" Yang excitedly agreed.

Blake rolled her eyes, Weiss face-palmed, and Ruby looked at the two grinning blondes like they were aliens.

"I swear, it's like looking at twins whenever those two get together." Weiss grumbled.

"They do seem to have a lot in common," Blake added. "More than Yang and Ruby at least."

"Wha!?" Ruby cried out.

Yang gave her sister a one-arm hug. "Don't worry, little sis. No one could ever replace you."

"She's right," Naruto agreed. "If I replaced you as Yang's sibling it would make the moments we flirt with each other extremely creepy."

"Ya see? Your position as my sibling will be forever safe."

That just earned the two blondes face-palms from Blake and Weiss and a face-fault from Ruby. Of course, their reasoning would be something stupid like that.

"Okay, moving on. It's your turn, Red." Naruto said with a clap trying to get things rolling once more.

Ruby seemed to do a complete mood change and excitedly stated. "I'm Ruby Rose, the fearless leader of Team RWBY! I like my sister, Yang, helping people, seeing the many different weapons people use, and stopping bad guys! I dislike when people tease me," She said as she glared at Naruto and Yang who were looking away and innocently whistling to themselves. "People who hurt others, and broccoli! Yuck! My dream is to become a Huntress and help keep everyone safe!"

"Aww, that's so cuuuuuuute." Yang said hugging her sister and shaking her back and forth.

"Cut it out!" Ruby said in annoyance elbowing her sister's gut to get her to let go. Yang retaliated with a punch to Ruby's shoulder. The two sisters glared hotly at each other and were about to duke it out when two pebbles roughly pegged their foreheads. Ruby and Yang redirected their glare at the one responsible while rubbing the pain away.

"No fighting each other unless it involves pillows and giggles, remember?" Naruto said as he crossed his arms once more. "I'd like to move on to our actual training session sooner rather than later. So, Weiss. If you would?"

The girl nodded, "I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Corporation. I like singing, studying, and professionalism." She said glaring at Naruto. The blonde's eloquent retort was to blow a raspberry at her. Weiss growled out her dislikes. "I dislike immaturity, irresponsibility, and the Faunus, especially those associated with the White Fang. My dream is to take over my family's company and become a famous Huntress." Weiss finished her introduction to see two stares from Ruby and Yang, a glare from Blake, and a neutral look from Naruto. "What?"

Naruto sighed, "Weiss, while everyone has a right to their own opinion, not every opinion should be freely expressed."

"Excuse me?"

"Your discrimination against the Faunus!" Blake said hotly.

"Thank you, Blake. But I'll take it from here." Naruto chided before looking back at Weiss. "I could honestly care less how you feel about the Faunus. Like them, hate them, whatever. But Beacon doesn't tolerate discrimination. We, teachers know it happens, but can only react to what we see. So if-"

"Now just hold on a second!" Weiss snapped. "You're blowing my words _way_ out of proportion. All I said was that dislike the Faunus, that doesn't mean I'm going to go out of my way to belittle and attack every Faunus I see!"

Naruto saw Blake was still displeased but knew it was something he'd have to deal with later. "So long as we're clear. Let me tell you _all_ something. After you graduate, you won't always get the liberty of choosing who you work with on a mission and there will be times you'll be expected to work with someone you don't like. Regardless of the reason, you must _always_ act in a manner that benefits the mission and not yourself. So when you come across a situation where you are working with someone you don't like or approve of do your best to ignore them and complete your mission. The mission is what matters because our mission as Huntsmen and Huntresses is to protect the world. Don't let your personal feelings endanger others. Now let's wrap things up. If you would be so kind, Blake?"

Blake frowned but did as asked, "Blake Belladonna. I like reading, moments of peace and quiet, and the Faunus." She finished glaring at Weiss.

"How can yo-" The Schnee heiress started, but was cut off when a pebble struck her forehead with a second one striking Blake's.

"Pillows and giggles!" Naruto repeated with annoyance.

"Why did you hit me too?" Blake said giving him a heated look.

"Because you said that just to piss her off. Now, I will hear no more on this subject, understood?" He asked. Both girls refused to answer so instead he called upon his aura and focused it on them. The air grew heavy as he repeated severely. "Understood?"

Two quiet "yes, sir's" later and Blake continued her introduction. "My dislikes are people who judge others before knowing them, people who are loud and obnoxious, and people who think violence is an acceptable means to an end. My dream is to one day see a world where Faunus and Humans can live together free of hate."

Naruto nodded his head with a smile. "That's a good dream, Blake. I hope to see that day myself." Clapping he pushed himself off the well and stood up. "Well now that, that is out of the way let's get started with today's training."

Team RWBY got back up to their feet and followed their commander to the center of the field. As they were walking, Ruby came up beside him and excitedly asked. "So what are we doing, Naruto? Hunting Grimm? Practicing with our aura?" Her excitement completely died at her next question. "…Running drills?"

Naruto laughed out loud before ruffling Ruby's hair. "Drills? Screw that! If you need me to tell you how to run drills, then you shouldn't be in Beacon to begin with."

Ruby gave a silent cheer as she fixed her hair once more. She was starting to think it would be a good idea to stay out of arms reach with Naruto.

"So then what are we doing?" Weiss asked, her annoyance with Blake forgotten.

"Today, each of you will spar against me." Naruto said as he turned to face them. "I've see a lot of your battles from either your previous school or your time in the Emerald Forest. But seeing and experiencing are two separate things and I wish to know for certain what you can do."

"That's it?" Yang asked surprised.

"You make it sound like this will be easy. One thing you will know for certain when you leave this training field is that no matter how skilled you are there are still people out there who can make you look like you're at your worst when you're fighting at your best." The four girls looked confused prompting Naruto to continue. "Yang was one of Signal Academies top students before coming to Beacon, Ruby has been moved ahead two years because of her talent and potential, Weiss was personally tutored by a number of exceptional teachers, and Blake passed the entrance exams with flying colors despite never having gone to a prep-school. The four of you are also on the same team and that means that amongst the first years, Team RWBY is seen as one of the highest ranking teams in your year if not _the_ highest."

The four smiled when they heard just how exceptional Team RWBY was viewed. At least, until Naruto started speaking again.

"So I'm going to face off against you one at a time, learn your strengths and weaknesses, then shatter your pride in front of the rest of your teammates so you don't ever let your standing go to your head." The whole time he was saying this he was giving the girls an eerie smile.

"Wait, shouldn't you be facing us all at once? We are a team after all." Weiss said while the other three nodded. For some reason the idea of fighting Naruto one on one sent shivers down their spines.

"Oh I could, but then you would all start bitching about how you would have done better had so-and-so not gotten in the way or how a plan would have worked had someone done something differently." He said. "You've been a team for less than three days and have only fought one battle together. Do you honestly think you can pull off another victory like you did against the Nevermore?"

Team RWBY was hesitant to answer.

"The answer is, no. Being put together and calling yourselves a team, doesn't actually make you one. You demonstrated great teamwork against the Nevermore, but you four still don't know each other's fighting styles or mentality well enough to efficiently and effortlessly work together. That is what we will focus on every session after today. Getting you four so comfortable with each other that you will know what your teammates will do before they even act. So I expect you all to pay attention to each spar and take note of how the others fight because I will be giving you an assignment before you leave today."

"Um, Naruto?" Ruby inquired. "How can we take notes of the spars when we don't have notebooks or pens?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head looking uncomfortable. "That was a figure of speech, Ruby. But yeah, I kinda, sorta, totally forgot to tell you four to bring notebooks and something to write with so…" Naruto stuck one hand in his coat pocket and another inside his coat pulling out four notebooks and three pens. "Here ya go."

The four girls each grabbed a notebook and a pen…or three of them did.

"Wait why don't I get a pen?" Weiss asked.

Naruto hand his hands interlocked behind his head before dully stating. "Did I forget to mention the person without a pen is the one who gets to spar with me?"

"Dammit!" The Schnee heiress whined.

"Heh heh, sucks to be you, Weiss." Yang commented as she, Blake, and Ruby moved to the far side of the field.

"You just wait until my spar ends. You're next!" She shot back making Yang sweat.

"I, uh, meant I'm sorry you have to go first?"

"Hmph!" She sniffed crossing her arms. "Too late for that."

"…Crap."

"Hey! Are we gonna fight or do you plan to kill me with boredom?" Naruto shouted.

Weiss took her place opposite of him on the field. "Don't you have any patience?"

"No!"

"Ug," She groaned in frustration before drawing her rapier, Myrtenaster. The two faced off for a minute, then two. Finally Weiss shouted. "Aren't you going to draw your weapon!?"

Naruto who had been casually standing with his hands in his pockets put up an act of being surprised. "Oh crap, you're right. Can't forget that!"

Weiss started trembling in anger while the rest of Team RWBY watched Naruto with anticipation. Ruby especially, she always loved seeing the weapons people used. Naruto dramatically reached into his coat with one hand and pulled out…a throwing knife. Team RWBY did a collective face-fault as he began tossing the knife in the air.

"What the hell is that!?" Weiss cried outraged.

"It's a throwing knife," Naruto happily explained. "I can cut, stab, and as the name implies throw it. It's like a multi-tool only it isn't bulky or come with eight different features you'll never use!"

"And _that's_ the weapon you use in your career as a Huntsman!?"

"Huh?" He asked looking surprised. "Oh hell no! Are you nuts?"

Weiss nodded her head. That's what she thought. "So…what are you waiting for? Draw it!"

"I already asked if you were nuts!" Naruto shot back. "Why in the hell would I use Mort and Minnie on you!? If I did that I'd have to carry you to the infirmary!"

"And you consider that dinky little knife a proper substitute!?"

"Umm, yeah. Why else would I be carrying it?" Naruto deadpanned.

Weiss stomped her foot and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Are you mocking me!?"

Naruto looked offended. "Of course not!"

Weiss was about to speak again, but was cut off by Naruto.

"I'm mocking _all_ of Team RWBY. You didn't honestly think I was going to change weapons when I fought them did you?" Naruto felt a spike in the girls' aura and knew he just pissed off the whole group. He smiled when Weiss lost all sense of composure and used her semblance to slide across the field with her weapon aimed for his heart.

Naruto waited till just the last second before his arm flashed up and he used his knife to parry her rapier to the right while stepping to her left and sticking his leg out to trip her. Weiss stumbled a few feet and fell forward just barely managing to catch herself in time. Before she could stand back up, Naruto was behind her and kicked her in the rear sending her crashing forward. She quickly rolled to her feet with her weapon raised and ready to intercept Naruto, but he was just standing there watching her with amusement and tossing his knife. Weiss' free hand moved to rub her sore bottom.

"You call that fighting!?" She shouted offended that he would do something so degrading to her.

"That's what I should be asking you." He answered smirking. "I'm not a Grimm, sweetie. Using a move with that many openings is gonna cost you."

Weiss growled before taking her stance once more and charging him again. However, she was more levelheaded than last time and used a shorter charge that stopped her a foot and a half in front of Naruto and thrust her blade forward. Naruto parried it and quickly leaned his head back to avoid a swipe to his face. The two exchanged blows a number of times, but no matter how hard Weiss tried she couldn't seem to truly put him on the defensive. All Naruto did was parry her blade or turn his body in a way that had him narrowly avoiding her attack, but not once did he ever take a step back. He was in complete control of their encounter.

Despite her frustrations, Weiss had to admit she was impressed. Even her tutors hadn't been _this_ good. Still she hadn't gone full-out yet. She suspected Naruto knew this and that was why he had yet to really fight back. He was waiting for her to step it up. Weiss broke off the engagement and leapt back to put distance between them.

"Done playing?" Naruto asked her with a knowing smile.

Weiss smirked. She was still a little pissed he was still only using a throwing knife of all things and literally giving her a kick in the ass, but at least now she knew he wasn't all talk. She pulled back her weapon and used her free hand to slide down the guard where the dust-chambers were. Myrtenaster responded to her aura as the cylinder stopped on the fire-dust chamber and a red glow covered her blade.

"Well, that looks dangerous." Naruto idly commented as Weiss once more charged him like she had at the start of the match. She was about halfway to him when he threw his knife and cut a deep graze into her forward leg causing Weiss to once again stumble forward but before she fell to the ground she was blasted back when her blade had touched the ground and released the fire Dust it was charged with in an explosion.

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled from the sidelines.

Weiss hit the ground hard and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop. Naruto started walking towards her only stopping to pick up her fallen weapon and his own thrown blade. By the time he had grabbed his weapon, the Schnee heiress was back on her feet weakly holding herself up. She had a couple bad burns on her exposed skin and her once pristine clothes were marked by tears and burnt fabric. Naruto stood his ground ten feet away before tossing her weapon towards her. She watched as it sailed through the air and buried itself tip first into the ground at her feet.

"We can stop now or keep going." Naruto said. "Personally, I think you still have some fight left in you."

Weiss hesitated. Her whole body was screaming in pain and begging her to stop. She glanced at her weapon then back at him before her eyes hardened and she firmly gripped the handle of Myrtenaster and took her stance once more. Naruto watched his student proudly as she chose to keep fighting. Weiss switched chambers once more before performing a pirouette with a wave of her sword creating six small glyphs that she launched at Naruto by pointing her blade at him.

Naruto's eyes widened behind the goggles before rolling to the side avoiding the first three glyphs. As he shot to his feet he pivoted to avoid the fourth and performed a backflip to allow the fifth one to pass under him. However, the sixth glyph struck his leg when he landed and he now found himself locked in place. He looked up in time to see a wall of jagged ice speeding towards him and his aura acted in response to the threat intercepting the attack and keeping any of the ice from piercing his body. Despite this some of the jagged edges did knick him. However, the real damage was realized when he found both legs up to his hips frozen in ice. He looked to where Weiss was standing only to find her missing. A shadow on the ground warned him where she was and he looked up in time to see her falling from the sky with her blade tip angled at the ground and glowing white.

Naruto knew he was in trouble and started actively calling upon his aura as Weiss slammed a foot in front of him and he was swallowed in a giant chunk of ice. The rest of Team RWBY were shocked. She had been losing the whole fight and here it looked like she managed a come from behind victory and possibly even killed their commander. Weiss stood up panting in exhaustion and was about to cheer in victory when a glowing orange fist bust through the ice and grabbed the front of her dress pulling her into the wall with enough force to break it. As she was pulled inside she had a brief second to realize the inside of her attack was hollowed out before she slammed into the opposite wall hard enough to break through it.

Naruto calmly strode out of the ice and walked towards Weiss' prone form. "You still awake."

Weiss just groaned.

"Good, that means you can take notes as I beat down the others." Naruto pleasantly stated as he picked her up bridal-style and carried her over to the others before going back to grab her weapon. "I gotta admit, you surprised me there at the end. Your form and technique aren't bad, but I'd say you do your best when you're strategically using your Dust."

"I don't get it, I really thought Weiss got you at the end there." Ruby said replaying the battle over in her head.

Blake answered her. "Naruto wasn't taking her seriously from the start and was holding back the whole fight. No matter how good you are, when you hold yourself back you make it possible to be caught off-guard. That's what happened."

Weiss weakly pushed herself up to a sitting position. "What I want to know is what you did to avoid my last attack. I remember what I saw when you pulled me into the ice. It was hollowed out!"

"That would have been my semblance." He answered. "It's called Aura Shaping and grants me a large capacity of energy to draw upon. All I did was take the standard defensive use of aura to project a force field and took it to the next level."

Naruto demonstrated his technique for them and began to let off a bright orange glow before a dome of ethereal energy of the same color appeared around him. Releasing the technique, he explained his semblance with a little more detail. "It takes a lot of concentration to perform something of that level so most of the time I only focus on creating smaller shields like the one I used to wrap around my arm when I punched through the ice. I can also use my semblance to turn my aura into a powerful weapon, but _that_ skill not only requires a lot of focus, but is incredibly exhausting. So don't expect me to demonstrate that."

"I'm still confused. How is that any different from the regular force field we project with our auras?" Yang asked.

Naruto took a minute to think how to better explain it before speaking. "Imagine the field you project as a shield you carry on your arm. Its level of resistance is only as strong as the arm that holds it up. When I create a shield through my semblance, it's more like throwing up a reinforced concrete wall between me and whatever is attacking me."

"So you used that dome to break the ice trapping you and shield you from my second attack." Weiss analyzed.

"Yup," Naruto said.

Weiss was upset with herself. She had never been as handedly beaten as she was just now. "Damn, I was hoping I'd do better."

"Weiss look at me," Naruto ordered getting her to look up at him. "You _exceeded _my expectations. You even managed to do some damage." He said gesturing to the tears in his pants where small shallow cuts could be seen on the exposed skin. "You were the first to fight me and didn't have the benefit of getting to see how I would fight back like those three. You went into a completely unknown situation against a superior foe and did a great job. Could you have done better? Sure, but you could have also done worse. So be proud of yourself and your accomplishments."

Weiss gave him a small smile before nodding her head in thanks.

Naruto smirked at her before saying, "Now comes the fun part. You get to choose my next victim."

Weiss got a devious grin before looking over at Yang who was quickly waving her hands back and forth with her pen pinched between her fingers. The Schnee heiress daintily reached over and plucked the pen from her fingers getting the blonde to hang her head in defeat.

"Who does it suck to be now, Yang?" Weiss asked her.

Yang sighed before getting up to follow Naruto to the center of the field. "…Me."

Student and teacher took to the field and faced off against one another. Yang expanded her bangles into the gauntlets she called, Ember Celica while Naruto casually flipped his throwing knife.

"I hope you're ready, Prince! Don't think I'm afraid of punching that cute face of yours!" Yang exclaimed as she took her stance.

Naruto kept flipping his blade as he brought his free hand up to make a come hither motion. "Bring it on, Yang."

Yang threw her fists back behind her and fired off her gauntlets propelling her at Naruto. She pulled her right fist back and thrust it at his head. However, her commander wasn't keen on taking the blow and ducked under it and avoided the dust-round that always accompanied Yang's punches. Undeterred, she brought up her knee hoping to catch him in the face but Naruto blocked it with his free hand and thrust his body forward slamming his shoulder into her gut and sending her back a few feet. Yang quickly recovered her balance and was about to retake her stance when she heard something hit the ground at her feet and the weight of her belt and half-skirt combo was missing from her waist. Looking down she saw said apparel laying on the ground. A quick inspection showed that her belt had been cut clean.

Yang looked back at her commander with a glare. "You're paying for a replacement, you know?"

Naruto shrugged. "Meh, at least now I have some eye-candy for the rest of the match."

"Pervert!" Weiss yelled from the sidelines.

"Enjoy it while you can, Prince." Yang said before charging him again. Once more the two were locked in hand to hand combat, but just like his battle with Weiss, Naruto was choosing to fight more defensively sticking to dodging her attacks or occasionally parrying her gauntlets with his knife. She decided to switch things up and went for a high-kick, but was countered when Naruto went low and swept the foot she was standing on. As she was starting to fall, she twisted her body and threw a punch that managed to catch Naruto in the chest. The blast from the punch propelled them away from each other.

Yang hit the ground rolling and quickly pushed herself up to her feet. Naruto on the other hand landed on his back and quickly kicked up to his feet. The two started circling each other Naruto noticed the girl's hair was now covered in flame, but her eyes remained violet. Yang studied him for a minute before standing up continuing to circle the blonde at a casual gait prompting him to do the same. The flames in her hair didn't die down though, if anything they grew more intense.

"I wasn't sure at first, but now I know!" She said across the field to him. "You're like me! A brawler. Your hand to hand is too good for someone used to a weapon like a sword, axe, or mace."

"I could have just had training, you know?"

Yang shook her head. "It was hard to tell because of your goggles, but you haven't once looked at my face. Your gaze as firmly been planted on my upper body watching every subtle motion I make so you can anticipate my attacks."

"Or I could be just staring at the biggest rack in Team RWBY." Naruto felt two auras spike with ill intent on the sidelines and guessed them to be Weiss and Blake since Ruby would have just been shocked speechless and a blushing mess from a line like that.

Yang just smirked not rising to his bait. "I'll thank you for the compliment, but as I was saying. Your kicks are another indicator. Fighting with your feet is always a risk because you can be grabbed and they can be read pretty easily even by people with no fighting experience. Yet, you show no hesitation when you use your feet to strike. You know the dangers and only use your legs when you know the risk is low or nonexistent."

Naruto gave her an annoyed frown. "You're just going to keep spouting off reasons until I give you an actual answer, aren't you?"

"Yup."

"Fine. Yes, I like getting in close and pummeling the crap out of my opponent, but my style isn't the same as yours and I don't wield a pair a gauntlets so get whatever assumptions you've been making out of your head. Happy now?"

Yang turned to face him completely with a grin before slamming her fists together causing an explosive flame to pulse from her body. "Ecstatic!"

Her charge was faster this time and she didn't even need the assistance of her gauntlets. Naruto started backpedaling but was forced to roll to the side when Yang threw her fists behind her with an explosive blast to quickly cover the rest of the distance between them. Her fist slammed into the ground where he had been and created a foot and a half crater. Quickly she locked her eyes on him and launched herself in his direction with another blast from her gauntlets. Naruto tried to keep up with her frenzied assault. He ducked, weaved, and parried as many blows as he could, but she was moving faster than him now and soon enough he took an uppercut to his gut which left him open for a punch to the face, and was finally launched back with a jump-kick to the chest. He was launched several feet back and was only stopped when his back harshly impacted one of the unbroken sides of Weiss' ice shell putting some cracks in it.

_Okay, that hurt. Fun's over._ Naruto thought as he stood up and flicked his throwing knife.

Yang didn't even move as the blade seemed to pass over her head. "What's wrong, Prince? That last combo give you double…dou…ble…" Yang watched in horror as a few strands of her blonde hair fell right in front of her face. Naruto's knife had cut her hair! "You…bastard!"

With a roar her eyes burned red and she came at him ready to beat him within an inch of his life for messing with her precious golden locks. Naruto had a sinister smile as his student charged him in a blind rage. Just when she was a few feet away he leapt up and used the ice dome as a launching point to jump up and over his student. As he sailed over her, both hands shot out and grabbed two fistfuls of her hair before he spun and landed on his feet behind her. With his new purchase he pulled her around him counter-clockwise before throwing her face first against the very ice wall she had launched him against. Before she could recover and kill her commander for messing with her hair again, Naruto jumped up and slammed a kick into her back that had enough power in it to force her through the wall she was pressed against and through the only non-broken side causing the ice shell to completely collapse and break apart.

She slid against the ground and started to push herself up to keep fighting when Naruto was once upon her once more. The blonde professor had jumped up and drove his knee into the small of her back causing Yang to cry out in pain before grabbing her hair once more and pulling her head back before slamming it against the ground. He pulled her hair back once more to take a glance at her face. Dirt and grass marred her beauty and a small trail of blood from a split lip could be easily seen. So too could the fight in her angry red eyes prompting Naruto to slam her head into the ground twice more. He was about to go for a third blow when he saw she was unconscious. He gently let her head fall to the ground before standing up with a sigh.

That ending had been more brutal than he intended, but Yang had certainly been right about one thing. They really did have a similar approach to fighting as Naruto knew he would never quit unless he won, died, or was knocked unconscious. Ruby ran over to her sister and rolled her over on her back. It was a testament to how tough Yang was when the blonde started to groan and wake up soon after. Her eyes opened to reveal that they were violet once more. She looked at her sister who gazed down at her with worry then over to Naruto.

"That really hurt, you know?" She said giving him a cute pout. "I'm going to have a week long headache thanks to you."

"Sorry," Naruto honestly apologized with a sheepish smile. "But in my defense I didn't see a faster way of taking you out. Besides, we both know you'd just keep fighting until I found some other way to knock you unconscious."

"I'd have only kept fighting because you broke a sacred taboo for us girls." Yang protested as her sister helped her sit up. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to mess with a girl's hair?"

Naruto waved her complaint off. "You girls have too many rules for us simple-minded males to keep track of. Don't ask her age, don't mess with her hair." Naruto paused to make an obvious showing off looking below Yang's neck line. "Don't stare at her breasts for too long."

Yang looked at him oddly when Ruby shouted. "Yang! Your jacket!"

The blonde brawler looked down to see that the two buttons that held her jacket closed had been ripped off, likely during her slide on the ground and her yellow crop top had multiple tears in it from the small rocks she skid across that revealed she was wearing a black bra. Yang grabbed both sides of her jacket and pulled them together to cover herself with a blush. Even she wasn't willing to show that much of her body off.

Naruto fist-pumped and cheered, "Yes! First blush!"

Yang and Ruby looked at him confused, but the older sister quickly caught on to what he was saying. Growling she used one hand to keep the front of her jacket together and her other hand to point at him. "Mark my words, Prince! You will be a drooling mess on the floor when I'm done with you!"

Naruto bent over with a victorious smirk. "Boast all you want, cowgirl. I'm not a virgin."

Yang sputtered while her sister went as red as her cloak. She even lost her hold on her jacket and gave Naruto another peak of her bra before quickly covering herself up again with a blush.

"Ha! Now, I have a two point lead!" He cheered again.

Yang was furious that he had gotten her to blush. Twice! In less than five minutes even! "That's it, Prince! You wait right there while I go change! I'm going to kick your ass!"

"Sorry, Yang. I still have two more students to embarrass so you're just going to have to deal." Naruto said as he directed her to the sidelines where Blake and Weiss were waiting. Bending over, he quickly snatched Blake's pen and tossed it at Yang.

"Hey!" She protested. "Why don't I get to pick your next opponent?"

"Because you would just refuse to grab a pen until I agreed to fight you again." Naruto deadpanned.

Yang pouted. She wasn't _that_ obvious, was she?

Blake calmly set her notebook aside before walking to the center of the field with Naruto following behind her. He didn't bother looking for his thrown knife and instead reached into his coat to pull another one out.

"I'm willing to bet that someone as calm and collected as you, won't be making the same mistakes Weiss and Yang made." Naruto mused

The black haired girl nodded. Both Weiss and Yang had started to relax after managing to strike Naruto. Weiss had assumed she accidently killed him and was caught by surprise when his fist burst through the ice to grab her while Yang had gotten cocky and left herself open for Naruto to exploit an emotional trigger of hers that he discovered from her fight in the Emerald Forest.

"You drew out the fight to see what they could do and only ended it when they started to think they might win after all." Blake explained.

"Knowing that, I suspect you have a plan for this fight?"

She nodded drawing her weapon. "I'll give it my all and aim to end your life."

Naruto gave her a feral grin. "Those are the words I was hoping to hear."

Unlike the first two girls, Blake chose to start things off from a distance and switched her weapon, Gambol Shroud immediately to its pistol form and started shooting at Naruto. The blonde was forced to stay on the move to keep from being shot. He knew he could just use his semblance to block the shots as he charged her, but where was the fun in that? Soon enough, Blake was forced to reload and Naruto took that time to quickly close the distance. She finished reloading and was able to get a shot off, but Naruto rolled under the bullet and swiped at her with his knife. He was caught by surprise when his knife passed through her and quickly raised his free hand up and called upon his semblance to generate an orange shield over his head intercepting three more bullets. Blake landed with Gambol Shroud back in its ninjato form and pulled the sheath from her back before skillfully swinging her blades at the blonde. Every strike was followed with her using her semblance to create a shadow clone while she moved to strike her commander's flank.

Naruto wasn't having too much trouble keeping up with her. While Blake was fighting him alone the way she moved to attack was similar to fighting multiple opponents and he had plenty of experience with those kinds of fights. The trick was to keep your head turned to the side almost all the time to catch sight of any potential attack from your peripheral vision. If they weren't within your line of sight, then the odds were good that they were attacking from your blind spot.

He was admittedly impressed with his squad so far. Weiss focused on pinpoint strikes, but excelled with Dust making her good at range and support, Yang was a pseudo-berserker and only got more dangerous the longer the fight went on making her a perfect tank and front-line fighter for the team, and Blake was well versed in blitzkrieg tactics hitting fast, hard, and with a lot of misdirection. There was just one problem with someone who relied on blitz tactics. They don't tend to stand up long against an opponent that can match or surpass the speed of your hit and run approach.

Naruto caught sight of her appearing to his right and used his free hand to project a large orange shield that slammed into Blake and temporarily stunned her long enough for him to move in and elbow her across the face with his right arm and followed it up with a knee to her gut. He then proceeded to grab her arm mindful of the weapons she still held and threw her over his shoulder. Blake used one of her shadow clones to help her recover in midair and landed on her feet with one hand rubbing her sore jaw and the other holding her abdomen.

Naruto stood up straight studying his student. "As I thought, you're more used to avoiding hits as opposed to taking them."

Blake put her sheath away and switched her ninjato to its handgun form. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well, I can't come right out and say it is." Naruto chuckled. "Standing still and taking hits is just stupid. But at the same time, constantly avoiding an attack means you're going to hurt more when someone does land a blow."

Blake nodded as she tied the ribbon wrapped around her arm to the handle and trigger of Gambol Shroud. "Then I'll just have to try harder at not getting hit."

Blake threw her weapon at Naruto who parried it with his knife. A quick tug on her ribbon and the weapon fired before returning back to the young professor. Naruto performed a back flip over the weapon before retorting. "That won't work against someone with more skill and experience than you!"

Naruto tried his best to charge her knowing if he got close enough she would have to shorten her weapon's lead. If he could manage that, she wouldn't be able to hit him from so many angles. Blake was also aware of this and was constantly taking steps and leaps away from him while trying to fend him off with Gambol Shroud. More than once, Naruto was forced to throw up a shield to block a dust round or the weapon itself when it got too close for comfort.

Sadly, Gambol Shroud was still limited by its number of shots and Blake was forced to reload once again and like last time, Naruto capitalized on it. The distance was much shorter than when Blake had opened up with her handgun and so by the time she finished, Naruto was already upon her. She ducked under his swipe and used a shadow clone to avoid his kick while putting enough distance between them for her to begin twirling her ribbon and spinning Gambol Shroud with incredible precision. Naruto cursed his luck. While he suspected she could wield her weapon in this state at close range, none of the recordings Beacon had of her combat skills had shown her doing so. She was even more deadly like this as her weapon was moving too fast for him to parry forcing him to dodge and back off.

The two stared off after Naruto had retreated. The blonde smirked, he'd seen enough and now he had a plan to put an end to the fight. "Seems you got a real pair of claws on you, Blake."

Blake's eyes widened in surprise before she cursed as Naruto charged her once more. She threw her weapon at him expecting to dodge or shield himself from the attack, but was shocked when instead used his free hand to grab her weapon by its grip, turned, knelt, and stabbed his knife through the ribbon attached to Gambol Shroud pinning it to the ground. Blake cursed once more as she released her end of the ribbon. Even if she managed to free her weapon, Naruto would be too close for her to make use of it. She grabbed her sheath from her back and started thinking of a plan. She didn't once let the thought that he was unarmed and at a disadvantage enter her mind, he'd proven himself by now to be a more than capable fighter.

She made a show of swinging her weapon, but it was all meant to be a distraction. A shadow clone meant to get him to dodge as she leapt over him to get to the other half of her weapon. That's what was _meant_ to happen. What had really happened was Naruto reaching up to grab her ankles as she jumped over him and slamming her into the ground on her back. Her shadow clone hadn't distracted him at all. All the air in her lungs was forced out as Blake gave a voiceless cry of pain. Before she could even hope to recover she felt a hand at her throat and opened her eyes to see Naruto's fist heading for her face. She shut her eyes tight and braced for the hit…that never came. Opening her eyes cautiously she noticed his fist and inch from her face.

Naruto let her go and stood up. "I thought I told you that technique won't work on someone with more skill and experience than you."

"Why didn't you finish it?" She asked as she tried to recover her breath and gingerly picked herself up off the ground.

"Again, we've already established you can't take a hit. The fight was over the second I had my hand on your throat and pinned you down."

The two walked over and recovered their weapons. Blake took a minute to examine the damage to her ribbon and smiled when she noted it would be simple to fix. They then made it over to the sidelines to see a fuming Weiss and Yang.

"What's wrong with you two?" Naruto asked

"We're pissed off!" Weiss shouted.

Yang nodded in agreement. "She got off way easier than we did!"

Naruto nodded in understanding before giving them a deadpanned look. "First, she took the fight seriously from start to finish. Second, she didn't let her emotions get in the way of her spar. Third, she knew she was going to lose from the get go. Finally, she's better at avoiding hits rather than taking them so anything I did to her after I slammed her against the ground would have been pointless and cruel."

The two glanced at the dark haired girl who only rolled her eyes at them before taking a seat and asking for Ruby's pen. Naruto looked down at the shivering girl. "Ready, Red?"

"Um…no?" She hesitantly tried.

"Good! Let's get to it!" Naruto cheered as he headed back out to the field. Ruby followed him slowly with her shoulders slumped and head hanging in defeat. She _really_ wasn't looking forward to this match like she had been at the start.

The two squared off in the field and though he didn't show it, Naruto was watching her with more intensity than he had with the other three members of Team RWBY. She had the least amount of experience, but one of the most dangerous semblances. Her ability to move at high speeds was not something to be underestimated and while he had no proof to support him, he suspected that she didn't suffer tunnel-vision when she moved. He doubted she could change direction while moving at high speed as her record only ever showed her moving in straight lines, but that didn't matter too much if you couldn't follow her to begin with. Sadly, his greatest advantage was one he would be forced to give up.

Ruby wasn't the kind of person who would aim to kill a human or Faunus for that matter. Robot? Grimm? No problem. But something with a soul? She just wasn't ready for that kind of fight yet. The criminals she fought the night they first met was proof of that. She had used non-lethal means to take them out and while they all ended up with pretty bad bone breaks on various parts of their bodies, none of their injuries proved permanent.

The two stared off for just an instant before Ruby seemingly disappeared and then reappeared right in front of him swinging her scythe, Crescent Rose down on his position. Naruto's eyes widened before he rolled backwards avoiding the attack. Her attack kicked up a lot of dirt and much like Yang's failed attack from earlier, left a small crater in the ground. He didn't even need to see the weapon itself to know Ruby had come at him with the back end instead of the blade.

She disappeared once more and reappeared again at his side swinging her weapon like a baseball bat. Naruto quickly maneuvered his blade to intercept and grabbed the hilt with both hands to reinforce his block. Ruby flinched when the two weapons met and she felt the vibrations travel down her weapon and up her arms. Naruto went to attack her, but she once again disappeared and reappeared a few feet away taking the chance to shake her arms a bit before gripping her weapon properly once more.

"Stop holding back, Red." Naruto ordered.

"I-I'm not," Ruby stuttered, unsure of what he was talking about or why he sounded so upset.

The blonde leveled a hard look at her. "If that were true you'd be coming at me with the blade of your weapon!"

The red-cloaked girl flinched at his cold toned accusation. "B-b-but I could hurt you! You can barely avoid my attacks as it is!"

Those were clearly the wrong words to say as an oppressive aura started weighing down the field and the four members of Team RWBY felt it get a little difficult to breathe. "So my cute little student thinks she can actually beat me." Naruto drawled as he put his knife away.

"N-n-no, I-I never s-said that." Ruby was honestly beginning to feel fearful. The aura coming off her commander wasn't just blanketing the field, it was being directed right at her.

"But you did, "I could hurt you" "You can barely avoid my attacks"." He said repeating her. "That tells me, you don't think I can measure up to a _first year student_. I had hoped my display against the rest of your team would have made you take this seriously, but it appears you are the one who needs the most humility beaten into you. Now, attack!"

"B-b-but you…" She started, not wanting to attack her unarmed teacher.

"Do it! Now!" He barked leaving no room for disagreement.

Ruby once more disappeared from his sight and reappeared attacking from the same angle she had first tried, a vertical strike downward. Naruto calmly through one hand up projecting a shield that met her weapon and caused it to bounce back from the collision. He proceeded to wrap a hand on the pole of Crescent Rose, get right up into Ruby's personal space, and slam his head harshly against hers. Her head snapped back and she was stunned by the assault, but her hold on her weapon only tightened. The Prince of Beacon grabbed Crescent Rose with both hands and turned to throw it and subsequently, its wielder away from him and across the field.

"Again!"

Ruby slowly picked herself up, but complied as she dashed forward once more with the aid of her semblance and performed a diagonal strike downward. However, Naruto was already crouched low and swept her feet out from under her. He quickly stood up and kicked upwards catching the small of Ruby's back and causing the young girl to cry out in pain. Before she could continue falling, Naruto once more took hold of her weapon and threw her away.

"Again!"

Ruby picked herself up again, but couldn't take a stance and instead was forced to lean heavily on Crescent Rose. The small of her back was screaming in pain and every time she tried to stand up straight the pain would flare up. Hoping to buy herself some time she quickly asked. "How did you know the direction of my attack? You were already moving into position as I was swinging Crescent Rose!"

"I didn't," Naruto admitted. "I expected a horizontal attack, not a diagonal one. Now quit stalling and attack me!"

Ruby cringed as she tried to get in position, but knew she was still hurting too much. Instead she collapsed her scythe to its gun state and took aim.

"Taking a play out of Blake's book, huh?" Naruto rhetorically asked her. "Let's see how well that would have worked for her if I was being half as serious as I am with you."

Ruby opened fire on her commander, but much like the woman she had fought against with Glynda, Naruto just blocked her shots with his hand reinforced with aura. There wasn't even an orange glow or evidence of his semblance. He was just casually walking forward as he intercepted her attacks. The few times she aimed at his legs, Naruto would just step to the side just as she pulled the trigger. Each shot came slower than the last as she felt her will to fight leave her. He was three feet from her when she dropped to her knees and hung her head in defeat.

Was she really expected to come at him with the blade of her weapon? She couldn't do it! Killing Grimm wasn't a problem, they were heartless monsters with no souls. But a person? A living, thinking, feeling person? She let go of Crescent Rose to stare at her hands but her vision was becoming blurry with tears.

Naruto watched as Ruby seemed to sink in on herself and started closing the distance. He saw Yang about to rush over and comfort her sister, but he waved her off. This wasn't something big sis needed to fix, this was a reality Ruby needed to come to terms with. He knelt down and took her hands in his own and quietly said, "It's never easy. Taking a life that isn't a Grimm."

Ruby continued looking down. She gave him a quiet sniff and a hiccup before asking. "Then why? Why are we expected to do it? People have friends and families they love! So why must we take them from the ones they love!?"

By the end, she was yelling her troubles. Naruto gave a quick glance over at the other three showed them looking away and feeling uncomfortable. They had come to terms with this issue themselves, but had yet to make their first soul kill as it was known to Huntsmen and Huntresses. Naruto just gripped Ruby's hands tighter before answering. "Because sometimes, humans and Faunus can be bigger monsters than the creatures of Grimm will ever be…"

Ruby looked up at him with a shocked, tearstained face.

"Creatures of Grimm will kill you because that's all they know," He continued. "There's no planning, no reason, no agenda. All a creature of Grimm does is kill because that is what it exists to do. But something with a soul? Human? Faunus? They can kill with or without reason. They can consider the rights and wrongs and still decide murder is okay. They can kill and say it served a higher cause. That the lives they take are meaningless in comparison to the reason they took them."

"It's not right." She muttered.

"That people like that exist or that we as Huntsmen and Huntresses are expected to stop them?" Naruto countered. Her tightening grip on his hands gave him her unspoken answer, both. "Then hold on to that feeling, Ruby." She looked back at him, only to see his kind smile. "I'm not asking nor expecting you to go out and kill every criminal you see, Red. I'm asking you to be prepared for when the day comes and you're forced to make that choice."

"W-will it really come?" She mumbled looking down.

Naruto's smile dropped. "Yes. More often than not, when a Huntsman or Huntress is called in to deal with a situation involving criminals it is because they pose an immediate threat to innocent lives. It's in those situations, to save the lives of those who've done nothing wrong we will be expected to take the lives of those who did."

The young girl didn't respond having too much to think about. Standing up, Naruto turned to the rest of his squad and said loud enough for them all to hear. "I think training is done for the day. Be sure to stop by the infirmary and get your injuries looked over. Go over your notes on each spar and write a two page essay on how you would incorporate each other's fighting styles with your own. That's two pages per person, so a total of six pages altogether."

Ruby slowly stood up when Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder telling her to wait.

"The other day I gave you some advice on leadership," He said. "Here's another piece for you to think over. One of the biggest curses for those in our position, is making the call that no one else wants to. Few people have what it takes to make a truly tough decision. You are now faced with your first."

"What do you mean?" She asked

"You have until next Wednesday to find the resolve to use that scythe the way it was meant to." He saw her want to protest but cut her off with a gesture of his hand. "Out of the four of you that sparred with me today, you are the only one who didn't give it your all."

"But I-"

"You gave only what you were willing to give, Ruby." He said interrupting her. "If you can't come at me the same as the rest of your team, then I can't leave you as leader. This goes back to my first lesson with you."

"Doing your best so that those who follow you do theirs?" She asked receiving a nod. Sighing she asked him. "Do you still think I should be the leader after today? It's only the first week and I certainly don't seem to be meeting your expectations…"

Naruto ruffled her hair. "It's not my call right now. I already said you have to next Wednesday to make your choice. Besides you shouldn't get so down on yourself. I have a feeling regardless of who I chose as leader I'd be spending the first few weeks tearing them a new one."

Ruby gave him a soft smile, nothing near the kind that usually adorned her face. She picked up her weapon and holstered it before jogging over to the rest of her team only to pass by Blake halfway. "Blake?"

The dark haired girl looked over at her. "Go on with the others. I have a few things I wanted to discuss with Naruto in private."

Ruby nodded before running over to Yang and Weiss following them out of the training fields. Blake watched them go before turning to see Naruto was once more leaning against the well towards the back of the field. Approaching him she said, "Professor, I was hoping we could talk about what happened this morning?"

Naruto gave her an annoyed look before crossing his arms. "I thought I made my opinion rather clear."

"How can you be so dismissive!?" She heatedly asked.

"Because, Weiss has told me all I needed to hear. So long as she continues to ignore, but tolerate the Faunus that's all that matters. Stop acting like she's committing some personal attack on you, Blake. She isn't even aware you're a Faunus."

Blake was speechless. She took a moment to compose herself before asking. "How did you know?"

Naruto quirked and eyebrow at her before pointing at himself and deadpanning. "Squad commander of Team RWBY and professor at Beacon Academy." He then pointed at her. "Squad member of Team RWBY and student at Beacon Academy. Why wouldn't I know?"

Blake flushed in embarrassment. It certainly seemed like a dumb question when put like that. "So then what should I do about Weiss?"

"Nothing," he answered plainly. "You can't force someone to change how they feel. You can guide them or encourage them, but never force them. Forcing someone to change their views breeds tension and resentment. The White Fang will learn that lesson soon enough when they push things too far. So all you can do is either work with her slowly over time or ignore her."

"I'm sorry," She apologized. "I just don't think I can really ignore her hatred of the Faunus."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't recall ever hearing her use the word "hate", but if you want to try and change her opinion, then you should try to become her friend."

Blake looked at him, surprised at what he was suggesting.

"Get to know her and let her get to know you. Build up some trust in each other so that when she learns your secret she can still see Blake the girl and her teammate instead of Blake the Faunus."

Blake looked uncertain. "Do you really think the others will learn the truth?"

"Undoubtedly. You will be working with Team RWBY for the next four years. They will learn eventually."

She gave a tentative nod before perking up and remembering something that caused her to glare at her commander. "You've been making cat puns in my presence since we first met."

Naruto gave her a teasing smile. "Only on occasion and nothing obvious enough to give away your secret."

She scoffed before crossing her arms and giving him a defiant glare. "You really get a kick out of teasing others don't you?"

The blonde's grin grew wider. "I will admit, it is fun as hell."

She rolled her eyes before turning and walking off the field. "People would take you more seriously if you didn't act so immature, you know."

"When you become a Huntress you'll learn to appreciate the quieter moments in life." He called out. "If you don't you'll have a permanent stick shoved up your ass."

Blake didn't even bother responding to that. Not that it stopped Naruto from taking one last parting shot.

"See ya in class tomorrow, Glynda Jr."

XxX

Glynda was drinking tea with Ozpin who had a cup of coffee when an inexplicable rush of anger came over her causing her to grip her teacup with enough force to shatter it. Tea shot out covering the two teachers, but mostly splashed on Glynda. Ozpin calmly grabbed a napkin and started drying his hair and face as Glynda did the same.

"Naruto?" He asked her.

Glynda glared at him, but nodded. "Naruto."

XxX

That night, Ruby was laying in her bed having spent most of the day thinking about what Naruto had said. She was so confused. She always wanted to be a Huntress because she wanted to help people, but she never really considered what that entailed until today. She glanced over at the adjacent bunk where her sister was trying to find a comfortable position to lay down. The nurses in the infirmary had done a good job patching them up, even healing Yang's split lip, but had left the bruises. According to them, they would heal on their own and get the girls used to working through the pain, whatever _that_ meant.

Weiss was in the bathroom performing her self-imposed mandatory thirty minutes of grooming while Blake was out doing…whatever Blake does on her own late at night. Ruby knew she needed help coming to a decision. She didn't want to give up her leadership, but the thought of killing something with a soul just terrible for her. Thankfully, she was alone with the one person she trusted impeccably. "Hey, Yang?"

"Hmm?" Yang hummed before rolling to her side with a wince to look at her sister, using her left hand to prop her head up. "What's up?"

"This morning…when Naruto told us we would one day have to kill someone while doing our duties as Huntresses…how did…" Ruby hesitated to ask. "How did you come to accept that?"

Yang's face grew solemn as she rolled on her back and put her hands behind her head while she stared at the ceiling. "To be honest, Ruby. I don't really think I have…"

"Huh?"

"I mean, I know it will happen someday, but it's not like we're expected to go out any time soon and start killing criminals, you know?" She quietly admitted. "If anything I've more or less ignored it and came to the decision that I'd burn that bridge when I get to it."

"B-but how could you fight like you did today!?" Ruby exclaimed. "Everyone seemed to have no problem trying to kill, Naruto! Weiss almost did!"

Yang snorted before she burst out laughing. "Is that what you saw? Seemed to me we all got our collective asses kicked." She rolled back on her side and looked back at her younger sister. "Ruby, Naruto is a fully trained Huntsman. He's been fighting life or death battles since before we ever picked up a weapon. Do you honestly think any of us really posed a threat to him?"

Ruby sat up in her bed and poked her fingers together. "Well, you and Weiss managed to hit him and Blake managed to fend him off the longest."

Yang held up a finger before she started to counter Ruby's claim. "First, he kept himself from becoming a Prince-sicle with just his semblance." She raised a second finger. "Took three punches from me in my heightened state before fully enraging me and then serving me my ass on a silver platter." She frowned as she remember the damage he had done to her beautiful hair before holding up a third finger. "The ease at which he took Blake out proves he could have done it at any time…actually extend that point to the rest of us as well." She then held up a fourth finger. "Fourth…well I don't even need to remind you with how badly he took you down so I'll just move to my last point. He kicked all our asses with a throwing knife and his semblance! Nothing else. We were never a threat or a challenge to him."

"So, you're saying even if I had come at him like he were a Grimm it wouldn't have mattered?"

"Yup," Yang said with a nod before speaking softly to her younger sister. "Ruby no one is asking you to kill anyone yet. So instead of worrying yourself over something that isn't likely to happen in the near future, focus instead on being the best Huntress and leader that you can."

Ruby laid back down contemplating her sister's words. She still had a week to come to a conclusion, but maybe her sister was right. Why worry about something that was going to happen way down the line? It wasn't an immediate issue yet. A soft smile graced her lips. Even if she didn't agree with taking a life, she could at least do her best to become as great a Huntress as she could.

(End of Chapter 3: Part 1)

So it's been eighteen days since my last update, but chapter 3 is officially done. For those who've been reading my profile you all know that chapter 3 quickly became longer than I anticipated and so I was forced to break it into two parts. The combined length is like 22k words and that's just way to long. I do apologize for the delay, this has been a rough couple weeks what with the death of my favorite comedian, Robin Williams and the Ferguson, MO. Riots which are less than a twenty minute drive away for me. So yeah, I was watching those closely.

Anyway, a lot of you who've reviewed may have noticed the things I discussed with you didn't occur in part 1, you will see it in part 2. Part 2 will be posted in two days so look for it on the 24th. If you enjoyed the chapter then please review. I really do appreciate them and try to thank everyone who does with a response.

For those who are curious, Chapter 4 is already outlined and I will begin work on it tomorrow.


	4. The Prince's Power: Political

(Chapter 3; Part 2: The Prince's Power: Political)

It was Saturday morning and Naruto was in his office gathering various items he'd need for his plans that day. The clock on the wall read 8:13 and his scheduled Bullhead was set to leave Beacon at 9:00. As he was checking to make sure he had everything he needed he heard the door to his office open and a person walk up behind him before two feminine arms draped themselves over his shoulder with the familiar face of Yang appearing in his peripheral.

"Whatcha doin?" She asked.

"Making sure I have everything I need before I leave today." He answered before turning his head to look at her. "Why are you hanging off my back?"

Yang shrugged. "Seemed like it would be fun. Most of the team are just lounging around today. I think Weiss and Ruby are finishing up their homework. Blake was reading last I saw her. No one wanted to do anything fun, so I came here to see what you were up to."

"And this is in no way an attempt to get me to blush?"

The blonde hair girl frowned at the reminder of her current standing in the "Blush War", but shook it off. "Meh, it's no fun when it's just the two of us. When the rest are here I at least get the satisfaction of watching how they react."

Naruto took a minute to consider that. "Good point. Sadly, I can't spend time with any of my cute little students today. Got plans of my own."

"Booo," Yang jeered.

"Yes, tragic. I know." He drawled. "Now get off."

"Let me think about that….nope!" She replied tightening her hold. She'd comply sooner rather than later, she just wanted to have a little fun first.

"Please get off?" He tried already suspecting why she was being difficult. He still had some time before he absolutely _had_ to leave so there wasn't much wrong with him wasting a few minutes.

"Don' wanna." She childishly protested.

"Simon says "Get off"."

"Simon can kiss my ass!"

The two did their best to glare at each other from their respective positions. Despite the frowns on their faces it was clear enough to see the mirth in Yang's eyes and the slight upwards twitch of Naruto's lips.

"Last chance…off!"

"Make me!"

Yang yelped and jumped away rubbing her rear where Naruto had pinched her. She gave her now grinning commander a glare before pouting. "You didn't have to pinch so hard."

"I did warn ya," Naruto reminded with a chuckle.

"Where are you going anyway?" She asked as she watched him gathering everything in a neat, orderly pile.

"I have to go into Vale today on business."

"Sounds fun, can I come?"

Naruto struck a thinking pose and said aloud. "Hmm, I don't know…should I let my insubordinate student come with me for a day on the town? I mean it's not even a scheduled Vale weekend. Plus it's only the first week of classes. Maybe I should be a responsible teacher for a change."

"Oh come on. Don't be like that, Prince." Yang said lightly punching his arm. "Besides it's the weekend. It's the time when we're allowed to throw responsibility out the window, right?"

"You bring up an excellent point, my student." Naruto agreed before taking another thinking pose. Shrugging he turned his back to her to finish his preparations and said. "Alright, but be sure to ask the others if they want to come as well. I'll be down by the landing platforms in thirty minutes. If you aren't there when I arrive, you're shit outta luck."

Naruto turned back only to see Yang was already gone.

XxX

Yang kicked open the door to Team RWBY's dorm room and shouted at the three lounging girls. "Get your stuff! We're going to Vale."

"Umm, Yang. It's not a Vale weekend." Ruby said reminding her sister.

Yang beamed at them and said. "Right you are, dear sister. Lucky for us, I got special permission from the Prince!"

"Somehow the thought of you getting Naruto to break the rules for us doesn't surprise me." Blake stated.

"Don't be hatin," Yang said as she glanced at the clock on the wall. "Now come on! We have twenty minutes to make it to the landing platforms or we'll be left behind."

"Wait a minute," Weiss interjected. "You really got us permission to go to Vale?"

"Uh, yeah. That's what I said, right?" Yang answered.

Faster than anyone could follow, Weiss grabbed something under her mattress and appeared right next to Yang. She looked back at the other two and ordered. "Hurry up! I'm not missing my chance to meet the greatest author of all time because you're too slow!"

"Whoa, Weiss." Yang said. "What's going on? I've never seen you this energetic."

"Haven't you heard!?" She exclaimed. "Gama Bakatchu is doing a book signing in Vale! Today! He's going to be at Tukson's Book Trade!"

Blake and Yang's eyes widened before they dashed off to their own secret stashes. Yang returned to the door with a single book like Weiss while Blake had three. The two looked over at the black haired girl in surprise.

"What?" Blake asked. "All of his work is great."

"Who's Gama Bakatchu?" Ruby asked jumping off her bed.

"He's-" Yang started but was cut off by Weiss.

"Explain later! Go, now!"

The three fans ran out of the room with Weiss dragging a protesting Ruby by her cloak.

XxX

Team RWBY managed to make it to the Bullhead with plenty of time to spare. Ruby was pestering the others about who Gama Bakatchu was and why they were so excited for the chance to meet him, but before the others could answer they were interrupted by the shouting voice of Glynda Goodwitch.

"Naruto! You can't just decide to take your team on safari just because you're going into Vale! We have scheduled weekends and if you violate those-"

"Yeah, that's nice, Glynda. Gotta go! Bye!" Naruto said as he closed his scroll. "Hey, girls!"

Team RWBY approached with Ruby looking at their commander nervously. "You're not going to get in trouble for doing this are you, Naruto?"

"Oh, I'm definitely going to get in trouble." He said smiling like a loon. "I just don't care."

"That's lovely and all, but if you don't mind I'd like to hurry this up!" Weiss said as she did her best to push four people onto the transport at the same time.

Naruto glanced over at Yang as the white haired girl continued shoving them and asked. "What's up with her?"

"Gama Bakatchu is doing a book signing in Vale today." She answered.

"And I refuse to miss this opportunity!" Weiss added as she continued pushing them.

"I see." Naruto said with a mischievous smile.

"Seriously!" Ruby cried. "Who's Gama Bakatchu?"

XxX

The five arrived in Vale after a short ride on the Bullhead. Naruto ordered the girls a cab while he mounted his motorcycle. Which had been loaded onto the small airship earlier.

"I've got some things to take care of so I'll let you four have your fun." He explained as he put his helmet on. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a scrap of paper with something scrawled on it before handing it to Blake. "Meet me at this location at six tonight. I'll introduce you to a…um….friend of mine? Yeah, let's go with that. I'll introduce you to her before we go back to Beacon."

With those words he peeled out leaving the four girls alone. The cab arrived not long after and took them deeper into the city. Along the way Yang, Weiss, and Blake discussed what they were going to do upon meeting their favorite writer. Ruby sat quietly in her seat getting more and more annoyed before finally snapping.

"Okay, I've had it! Someone tell me right now! Who is Gama Bakatchu!?"

The three older girls and one cab driver started at her owlishly.

"Well…he's a relatively new author, but he's already produced three books and all of them are best sellers." Blake answered.

Ruby seemed impressed. "Wow…so what's he write about?"

The three other members of Team RWBY shared glances while the cabby kept his eyes on the road.

"Umm…well…" Yang started not sure how to explain the contents of his books to her younger sister. "They're adventure tales! With heroes, villain, romance, and…" She trailed off mumbling.

"And what?"

"Eroticism." Blake bluntly answered.

"Eroticism…" Ruby repeated quietly. Her brain slowly absorbed the word before her eyes widened and she started blushing profusely. "He writes porn!?"

Weiss cuffed the back of her head. "Don't debase his work like that! It's art!"

Ruby rubbed the back of her head, she was about to say more when the cabby told them they had arrived at Tukson's Book Trade. The four got out to see a massive line of men and women of all ages and both races wrapping around the block.

Yang let out a low whistle. "That's a long line."

Weiss jogged ahead, following the line to try and find its end with the others following after her. Ruby was surprised to see the line was so long and filled with a lot of people who were laughing and chatting merrily. Well, except for that one tall old guy with long spiky white hair. He seemed ready to tear a Grimm's head off with just his teeth. Eventually the group of four found the end of the line…six blocks from the shop.

"I still don't get it." Ruby said as she got in line with the rest of her team. "How can there be so many fans of a book filled with porn?"

Her question drew the attention of the people ahead of her and everyone was staring at her with a mixture of shock and glares. Weiss cuffed her upside the head once more while Blake and Yang explained that she was young and still had yet to read one of Gama Bakatchu's books. That seemed to appease the crowd as they returned to their own conversations.

"Girls, I think the only way we can properly explain to Ruby how great these books are is for her to read one." Weiss said. Blake and Yang nodded in agreement.

"Wait! I don't want to read this stuff!" Ruby protested, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Well I have all three," Blake said as she held up her books. Ruby took note of the titles, "Beanstalk", "The Glass Slipper", and "Mermaid".

"Hmm, "Beanstalk" wasn't bad, but "The Glass Slipper" was more for guys." Weiss stated before holding her own copy of "Mermaid" up. "If anything, this would be the best book for her to read since the main character is a girl and focuses on her struggles to find and save her true love! It's just so much more romantic than the other books!"

"Hey!" Ruby tried again.

"I don't know, Weiss." Yang said holding up her book. "Personally, I liked "The Glass Slipper" I mean yeah it's definitely oriented more towards guys, but it had so much action! Remember all the bad guys the Prince had to beat up while he tried to find the one girl whose foot would fit the slipper."

"Yeah, but then there's all those girls who seduce him trying to make him ignore the slipper and marry them. I mean, come on. If he's looking for true love, why is he sleeping around?" Weiss countered.

"Well, what about "Beanstalk"?" Blake suggested. Both Weiss and Yang gave her a deadpanned look.

"No." The Schnee heiress said.

"Yeah, sorry, Blake." Yang agreed. "But the story of a teenage orphan climbing a beanstalk to a land he perceived as paradise only to discover it was a gilded prison for all the women that an evil giant had kidnapped is just a little too dark for Ruby."

"Stop ignoring me!" Ruby whined.

"Oh look! The line if finally moving!" Weiss cheered.

"I said-" Ruby was about to speak again when Weiss shoved her book into Ruby's hands.

"Shut up and read it! Otherwise we'll just keep disregarding your complaints!" She said. "Honestly, how can you criticize something when you haven't even tried it? You are such a child sometimes."

"Stop calling me that!" The red cloaked girl growled.

A light bulb seemed to go off in Weiss' head as she gave Ruby a superior smirk before pointing at the book in the girl's hands. "Then prove me wrong. After all, that book is _way_ to mature for a kid to read."

Ruby just grumbled before she opened the book and started reading not once realizing she'd been tricked into reading the book. Five minutes passed as the group continued moving forward. Then ten. At fifteen minutes the three older members of Team RWBY glanced at their leader only to see her blushing up a storm and turning pages at a rate that made them wonder if she was using her semblance to help her read. Occasionally the younger girl quietly giggled, but it was clear to those listening that she had two types of giggling. One for when she read something humorous and another for when she read….something else entirely.

"Think we've converted her?" Yang asked.

"Only one way to find out." Blake stated looking at Weiss who nodded to her.

Weiss snatched the book away from Ruby who stared blankly at her hands before realizing the book was gone. She looked up to see Weiss taunting her with the book. "Give it back! It was getting to a good part!"

"But I thought you said it was porn." Weiss teased as she continued holding the book out of Ruby's reach.

"I lied! I was wrong! I'm sorry!" She cried. "Now give me the precious!"

Weiss handed the book back to Ruby who quickly took it and moved behind Yang using her older sister as a shield from the evil book thief! She quickly found the page she last read and continued onward.

The line continued to drift at a snail's pace and Weiss was quickly losing her patience. "How long is this going to take!?"

Blake look up from her copy of "Beanstalk" having decided to pass time by giving it another read through. This would mark the ninth time she had read it. "From how long the line was and how far we've gone so far…" She paused to calculate. "Five and a half hours."

"Ugg!" The Schnee heiress groaned.

"Just do what the rest of us are doing, Weiss." Yang said not looking up from her copy of "The Glass Slipper".

"I can't! Ruby-" She was stopped as Blake handed her, her copy of "Mermaid". Weiss took it gratefully. "Thanks."

The four girls of Team RWBY enjoyed their stories in relative peace. Only ever being distracted by the giggles of one Ruby Rose.

XxX

Naruto sat behind a table with a pile of pictures and copies of his or to be more accurate, Gama Bakatchu's works. Unlike his usual ensemble, he was dressed in a long brown coat with a hood covering his hair, a scarf hiding his lower face, and his trademark goggles. Under his coat was a simple moss green shirt and black cargos. He was currently writing a short note and signing his name for an attractive young woman with red hair and blue eyes.

"Mr. Bakatchu, why do you hide your face?" She asked him.

Naruto finished his autograph before closing the cover and looking up at her. "Well you see, I'm a resident of Vale. If people knew what I looked like I would be constantly stopped on the street. I never picked up writing as a means to get famous so to keep my normal life normal, I hide my appearance."

The girl and the two friends she was with squealed in excitement. "Oh my Dust! You _live_ in Vale. That means we could bump into each other on the street! Oh! Maybe we'll even meet at a club or something and you'll be inspired to use me as a source of inspiration."

Naruto gave her an obvious look from top to bottom causing her to blush before he said. "It certainly could happen."

The three girls cheered again thanking him for signing their books and walking off. Naruto glanced at the table to notice three scraps of paper with phone numbers and names scribbled on them. Sighing he collected them and slipped them into his pocket which was damn near full with several similar scraps from the past two hours of signing autographs. He'd discreetly pitch them later. Like hell he was going to call any of these girls up and go "Hey! This is Gama Bakatchu! Wanna bang?" He didn't need his books or Gama Bakatchu's reputation to do that, he was plenty awesome without them!

His musings were broken when the next person in line approached and slammed a copy of "The Class Slipper" down on the table followed closely by two large hands on either side of the book. Naruto looked up into the imposing face of an older man with long spiky white hair wearing some pricey sunglasses that had slipped down enough to reveal a two raging yellow eyes with bar-like pupils. He was dressed in a white shirt with a red vest over it and long baggy dark green pants.

"Gama Bakatchu, I presume?" The man growled out.

Naruto smiled widely behind his scarf. In a mockingly happy voice, he greeted the man. "The Sexy Beast Jiraiya! Oh, this is great! My idol here for my autograph! This is like a dream come true! How are you doing? Can I shake your hand?"

Naruto had his hand extended to which Jiraiya took it and started squeezing it as hard as he could. "Oh, my life is great! I mean there was this one little hiccup where a familiar little bastard I know decided to imitate my profession which resulted in me losing my contract with my publisher leaving me out of a job. But other than that it's been good. I even had to stowaway on a plane, a train, and a boat just to come and see you."

Naruto returned the favor by squeezing Jiraiya's hand just as tightly. "Well, that's what happens when you blow all your money on the Red Light District, right? Then again I hear that is the only way crusty perverted old men can get any loving. Must be hard having to pay for inspiration. Me? I'm still young and sexy, the muses just flock to me." Naruto said reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a fistful of girls' phone numbers. "See? And that's even with my face and hair completely covered!"

The two men continued to try and out squeeze the other's hand while lightning started sparking in the space where their gazes met. A tense minute passed between them before they both let go and Jiraiya leaned over the table and enveloped Naruto in a hug. "It's great to see you again, brat. But don't think I'm not going to kick your ass for ruining my career."

"I missed you, Jiraiya." Naruto said returning the hug. "But we both know you wouldn't be able to kick my ass."

Jiraiya grimaced. "Doesn't mean I can't try."

"Nope, but it does mean that you'll fail."

Jiraiya grumbled under his breath about disrespecting brats to which Naruto just responded by writing "To my favorite walking STD, Gama Bakatchu" in the book his old friend and mentor had brought.

"What's got you in Vale? I doubt you came all this way to gripe." Naruto asked as he finished his autograph.

"Funny you should ask, got time to talk."

Naruto seemed to stiffen at those words. Every time Jiraiya had asked him if he had time to talk, the talks were generally anything but pleasant. His tone was cautious, but at the same time held an edge to it. "…What kind of talk?"

"The Konoha kind." Jiraiya answered gravely.

"…" Naruto was silent for a moment before standing up from his seat. "Hey, Tukson. I'm done for the day."

"What!?" A man shouted from the back of the shop before running out. He wore a short sleeved beige shirt with black accents and a white undershirt with clean cut hair, long sideburns, and hairy arms. "Do you have any idea how much shit you're going to cause if you walk out now? That line has been building for almost two days since I released the news of your signing!"

"Sorry, but something's come up and it can't wait. Tell my fans I'll make it up to them by coming back next Saturday and offering them a rare prerelease of my next book not set to hit shelves until next month." Naruto was legitimately sorry; Tukson was a good friend and a member of his spy network who helped keep tabs on hostile Faunus movements.

Tukson looked contemplative. Something like an early release would certainly appease the people still waiting to get an autograph from Gama Bakatchu. "You can do that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Dunno, but if my publisher bitches I'll just threaten him with finding a new publisher."

"Whatever, I don't care anymore." Tukson said hanging his head in defeat. "Use the back exit, I'll face your lynch mob for you."

Naruto started walking to the back with Jiraiya in tow. As he passed the forlorn bookstore owner, he reached into his coat and handed him a copy of the very book he was going to offer his upset fans. "Thanks, buddy. Hope this makes up for whatever trouble I'm about to put you through."

Tukson opened the cover to see it was already signed and smiled before hiding it in one of the drawers of his checkout counter. "See you next Saturday, Naruto."

Naruto and his mentor snuck out the back and down an alleyway making it a few dozen feet when they heard shouts of outrage coming from Tukson's Book Trade. As news of the early ending of Gama Bakatchu's signing made it down the line the yells and protests got louder.

"WHAT!?" A familiar voice shouted from roughly five blocks away. Naruto winced knowing that voice quite well.

_Weiss is gonna be pissed when I next see her._ Naruto thought with dread.

"So…where to?" Jiraiya asked conversationally.

"I know this pretty good restaurant not too far from here." Naruto said as he approached his bike. He removed his long coat and scarf and stuffed them into a backpack that was hanging off the end of his bike before pulling out his usual orange cloak with black flames.

"I'm not paying for you and I'm sure as hell not getting on that thing." His mentor declared.

"Are all old men killjoys or is it just you?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "Either way you don't have to concern yourself with the bike. We can just as easily walk there."

"I'm not concerning myself with your tab either." Jiraiya added noticing Naruto's lack of mentioning _that_ particular protest.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." The blonde said dismissively.

XxX

"This is bullshit!"

"Wow, never thought I'd see Weiss this angry." Yang said quietly to Blake who nodded. Ruby was trailing behind them still reading.

"You have to admit though, it was a pretty short signing." The black haired girl commented.

Weiss seemed to overhear them. "Exactly! It was like, what? Two hours at the most?"

"The store owner did apologize and said Gama Bakatchu was going to make it up to his fans." Blake pointed out.

"Yeah! Next week!" Weiss shouted. "Next week isn't a Vale weekend!"

"Well, why not try talking to Prince?" Yang suggested. "He got us permission to come with him this weekend."

"I think it's less he got us permission and more he just blatantly ignored the rules." Blake stated.

"What she said. Besides I doubt he'd get away with it a second time," Weiss said deflating. Stomping on the ground she continued to air her complaints. "This is just so unfair! I've been waiting to meet Gama Bakatchu ever since my sister introduced me to his work!"

"Did you know Weiss had a sister?" Yang whispered to her partner who shook her head in the negative.

"And then," Weiss continued either not hearing or not caring about the peanut gallery behind her. "Just when it seems I'll get my chance, it's taken right out from under me! The world is such a cruel place…"

Ruby let out a perverse giggle causing the rest of her team to sweatdrop.

XxX

Naruto and Jiraiya were seated at a Simple Wok each chowing down their respective meals.

"Isn't this place great!?" Naruto cheered as he tore through his third bowl of ramen.

"Anything is great after going hungry for two days." Jiraiya commented ordering a bottle of sake.

Naruto gave him a confused look. "Why were you starving yourself?"

Jiraiya finished his plate of lo mein and ordered seconds. "I'm broke, brat. What part of stowaway didn't make that clear?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just thought you were being a cheapskate." He was about to return to his meal when he realized something. "Don't go spending my money you perverted bastard! Pay for your own damn food!"

In a flash Jiraiya was on his knees clinging to his coat and sobbing comically. "Don't be so mean to your old teacher! Have a heart! Remember all the good times we've spent together?"

Naruto was doing his best to pry Jiraiya off him with both hands while not damaging his coat. "First, that sounded really gross! Second, all I remember when I think back to your teaching is pain, lectures, humiliation, and a crap load of trips to the Red Light District! Lastly, fuck off and finish your damn food!"

The blonde finished is tirade with a boot to the face for his old mentor. Jiraiya didn't spend long on the floor before he was back in his seat eating his noodles. "My student is such a generous young man!"

Naruto grunted as he polished off his third bowl and grabbed his fourth. "You said you had word on Konoha?"

Almost instantly the tension in the little noodle stand rose. Fun time was over.

"They've been making moves to militarize." Jiraiya said gravely.

Naruto gave a humorless snort. "Of course they have, Danzo was always raving about Faunus superiority."

"You know," Jiraiya started. "This wouldn't have been an issue had you-"

"Stop." Naruto harshly said cutting his mentor off. "We've traveled that road before. It ended with both of us pissed off, me running away into the night, and us not talking for almost five years. I've missed you, Jiraiya, but I won't sit here and listen to you tell me how you want me to live my life."

"Dammit, brat. I've missed you as well, but you can't just keep running and hiding from your responsibilities." Jiraiya said pouring himself a saucer of sake. "Besides, I'm not the only one hoping to see the return of Konoha's Lost Prince."

"Prince Namikaze is dead." Naruto coldly declared as he grabbed the sake bottle and took a swig from it ignoring his mentor's horrified gaze.

"How can I drink that now!? You've backwashed!"

"Shut up! It's my money, so it's my bottle!" Naruto said before taking another drink and sliding back to Jiraiya. The blonde stared into his ramen before speaking softly. "I've made a life here, Jiraiya. It may not be the one I expected growing up, but I like it. I have friends, a respectable job, and four cute girls that I'm teaching to be four kickass cute girls."

Jiraiya sighed. "That life you're living is an illusion and you know it. You may be able to run from your past, but you can never escape it and I will keep hounding you until you realize that."

Naruto finished drinking the last of his broth before putting the bowl to the side and fishing out enough money to cover the bill. "I won't trade the life I have now to fight a war for the one I gave up." He then stood up and started walking away, but not before somberly saying. "It was good seeing you again, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya watched him leave with a sigh. Laying his head on the counter he muttered to no one. "Kid, you may not know it yet, but the choice is already out of your hands. Konoha is here in Vale."

XxX

"Is this the place?" Yang asked her partner who just rolled her eyes and handed her the scrap paper Naruto had given her that morning. It was a quarter to six in the afternoon and the sun was starting to set. Yang inspected the sheet to see that they were indeed where they needed to be. The scrap didn't list a building address, only an intersection.

"Am I the only one that thinks it's weird that our commander has us standing at the corner of an intersection waiting for him?" Weiss asked. Blake and Yang shrugged while Ruby continued to giggle. Weiss rolled her eyes in annoyance at the young leader before taking her book back.

"Hey!" Ruby whined.

"If you like it so much, then get your own copy."

"I can't, you took us away from the bookstore." Ruby said feeling depressed that her precious was taken.

"She has a point." Blake added.

"Oh don't you start!"

Yang grinned at her teammates. It was like watching her own personal sitcom sometimes. She checked her watch and noted it was five till. "Where's the Prince at anyway? You don't think he'd be late, do you?"

"I think that exactly." Weiss stated.

"Maybe he's already here and we just haven't seen him?" Blake suggested.

"Nu uh," Yang answered shaking her head. "I've been looking all over this intersection and the only person not moving is that white hair girl wearing a kimono in the fancy car."

The others were about to look at the car in question when a roaring engine tore their attention away. Speeding down the street was Naruto on his motorcycle. As he pulled up in front of them, he killed the engine and pulled off his helmet. After his talk with Jiraiya he had gone for a ride to clear his head and he honestly felt better for it. Smiling at his students, he said. "Good, you're all here."

"You're late!" Weiss huffed. "Hasn't anyone ever told you it's respectable to be at least five minutes early?"

"D'aw, Weiss expects me to be respectful. That's so cute." Naruto teased.

Normally Weiss would just turn her head and ignore her teacher's stupid comments, but today had been a very, _very_ bad day for her and she just wasn't in the mood. Stomping up to him she grabbed him by his coat and pulled him close so she could glare directly into his stupid goggles. "Listen up you blonde hair bastard! I came all the way out here today to get Gama Bakatchu's autograph and after _two hours_ of waiting in line, I get told that he's done signing for the day! My whole day has been nothing but crushed dreams and wasted time. So, if only for the rest of the day, I expect you to act your age or I will take off my high-heel and shove it right up your ass!"

_Yeah…she's pissed._ Naruto thought before glancing over at the rest of his teammates. All three had their arms crossed in a "X" shape as if to say, "Not helping." _Traitors._

Naruto looked back at the glaring Schnee heiress. "Don't worry, Weiss. Even I wouldn't be acting up at our next destination for the evening. The woman I'm going to introduce you four to is scary as hell. Which reminds me," Naruto turned his head and let out a loud whistle. "Kuro get over here and stop being antisocial. I already have to put up with that every time I deal with Blake!"

Blake shot him a glare that he promptly ignored. From across the street the door to a fancy car opened up and the seventeen year old Faunus wearing a kimono quietly made her way over to them.

Weiss had let go of Naruto, but was now shooting the Faunus a suspicious look.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Master Uzumaki. Mistress was very happy when I told her you were coming." Kuro answered in a monotone while giving the blonde a slight bow.

Naruto appeared behind her and wrapped her up in a big hug before lifting her in the air with a smile. He gently set her down but didn't remove his arms from her. Kuro for her part still looked at the four girls blankly, but couldn't hide the faint pink dusting on her cheeks. Naruto introduced her to Team RWBY. "This here is the adorable Kuro. She's the adopted daughter of the woman you will all be meeting tonight and a good friend. Don't let her looks or mannerisms fool you though. She can be just as scary as her mother if you upset her."

Kuro shivered in his arms. "Mistress is _far_ scarier."

"She calls her mother "mistress"?" Weiss asked.

"Don't ask why. According to her mother, she's done that for forever and no amount of asking seems to break her of the habit." Naruto explained letting the blank faced girl go before stepping around her to address her face to face. "And you should see yourself fight, Kuro. You and Tamamo are both scary, just in different ways."

"Tamamo…where have I heard that name before?" Yang asked.

"Mistress owns the largest nightclub in Vale and is currently Vale's top information broker." Kuro answered.

"Which is why we are going to meet her. Information brokers are incredibly useful in our line of work and I'm going to introduce you to one of the best." Naruto said.

Yang's face was paling. "Wait, you don't mean we're going to Foxfire, right? I've been told countless times to stay away from that place if I value my life or like being in one piece. Normally, I wouldn't let something like that stop me, but I've heard more than enough stories."

Naruto shrugged. "That's actually pretty sound advice. Tamamo doesn't like dealing with new faces. She operates under an invitation only policy. As in if she doesn't invite you or one of her clients doesn't bring you to her, your ass is grass."

"You make her sound like a criminal." Weiss remarked before noticing Naruto and Kuro not meeting her eyes. "You're kidding me! You're taking us to meet a criminal!?"

"She's not a criminal, per say…" Naruto said trailing off. "But I'd _highly_ recommend not doing something to upset her."

"If she's a criminal, why haven't the police arrested her?" Ruby asked innocently.

"You don't get to the top of anything without making some powerful connections, Red." Naruto answered. "But the more honest answer would be she has blackmail on basically everyone who could threaten her, and those that she doesn't know that people who've tried to take her down in the past tend to go on permanent vacations, if you catch my drift."

"Sounds like a real charmer." Weiss grumbled.

"Mistress only hurts those who upset her. Being Master Uzumaki's students will give you some assistance when it comes to staying on her good side." Kuro said though her words did anything, but ease Team RWBY's concerns.

"Oh? What's the Prince done to make her think so highly of him?" Yang questioned. Naruto was waving his arms frantically trying to stop Kuro from answering, but it was all for naught.

"Master Uzumaki periodically sleeps with Mistress."

Naruto froze; mortified as his team gave him blank stares. Deciding to save what little dignity he could he clapped his hands together and said, "Well, this conversation has been both enlightening and incredibly embarrassing. Thanks for that, Kuro."

"You're welcome, Master Uzumaki." Kuro said not seeming to get his sarcasm.

Naruto hopped onto his bike acting as though he hadn't heard her speak. "But I think it's time I part ways with you. Kuro will take you to Foxfire and I will meet you there."

Just before he could kick-start his engine Naruto felt a weight appear behind him and two arms wrap around his waist. Looking over his shoulder he saw Yang grinning at him.

"After everything Ruby said about your driving, do you really think I'd miss this chance?"

Despite his earlier embarrassment, Naruto couldn't help but feel at ease with his fellow blonde. "Bold words Miss Xiao Long. Let's see how long that courage of yours lasts."

Yang's answer was to tighten one arm around his waist and wave goodbye to the rest of her team. "See y'all in a little while!"

Those were the last things the four remaining girls heard before Yang's excited screams filled the air as Naruto drove down the street with his front wheel in the air.

XxX

Yang sighed as she leaned her head against Naruto's back. He had done a few tricks and jumps, but she could tell his heart wasn't in it. She couldn't say she really knew Naruto well, she hadn't even known him for a week. Still, it didn't change the fact that she could tell that something was troubling him. She picked her head up and looked forward spotting a small convenience store.

Tapping his shoulder, she spoke loud enough for him to hear. "Hey, you mind pulling over? I'm feeling pretty thirsty."

Naruto looked back at her but eased off the throttle. "We're supposed to be meeting everyone at Foxfire. Can't you wait a few more minutes?"

"Oh come on, Prince!" Yang said with a playful slap. "A quick pit stop won't kill anyone. If you're that afraid of Weiss's shoe, I'll take the heat for you. Besides, my butt fell asleep two minutes ago."

Naruto chuckled at her response and pulled over. Yang hopped off the bike and ran inside to purchase two sodas before coming back out and tossed one to Naruto. The blonde professor looked surprised for a second before rolling with it. Yang sat down on the curb while he leaned against his bike both enjoying their drinks.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked. Subtlety was never her strong point.

Naruto paused to look at her before taking another sip. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what's got you down?" Yang clarified. "I didn't notice it earlier, but now that it's just the two of us I can practically feel the tension coming off you."

"It's nothing you need to worry yourself over."

A moment of silence passed between them before Yang tried again.

"You know…just because you're our commander and we're your students doesn't mean we can't be there for you when you need it. Helping others should never be a one-way street."

"A proverb from Miss Xiao Long? What a rare sight! Quick where are the others?" Naruto teased.

Yang laughed. "Probably still back at that intersection getting details on your sex life from that girl you introduced us to."

Naruto blanched. "Well you didn't make me blush, but I've got no comeback for that. Therefore I grant you one point. Let it be known, the score is two-one in favor of me, Naruto."

Yang gave an exaggerated cheer before settling down. The awkwardness from when she first brought up Naruto's troubles was gone, but the mood was quickly slipping away.

Naruto took another sip from his drink before sighing. "I ran into my old mentor earlier today. It was a bit of a surprise seeing him, but it didn't go well."

"What happened?" She gently coaxed.

Naruto shrugged. "He wanted to talk about the past and my future."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Naruto shook his head. "The future he sees for me isn't the one I want or see for myself. He's pushed for it for as long as I've known him and the only reason he does so is because of my past. He doesn't seem to understand that I've left that life behind and that I'm content with the one I have now."

"What was the life you left behind?"

"Sorry, Yang." Naruto apologized. "I'd rather not talk about _that_. Not that I don't appreciate the effort, but my history is something I only ever discuss with those already in the know. And even then I do so very rarely. I'm someone who would rather focus on the here, now, and look to tomorrow."

"Fair enough," Yang acquiesced before finishing her drink, crushing the can, and chucking it into the recyclable bin ten feet away. Seeing it go in she threw her fist in the air and cheered. "Ha, ha! Two points!"

Naruto smiled at her before finishing his drink and following suite. However, he was five feet farther from the bin. "So what's that then?"

"Cheating, you throw knives all the time."

"You call it cheating, I call it being a sore loser." Naruto ribbed getting her to pout at him as she approached. Before she could get back on his bike, Naruto surprised her with a hug. "Thanks, Yang. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me."

Naruto pulled away to see a light dusting of pink on her shocked face. He hopped onto his bike and made a show of marking an imaginary tally. "And the score is now three-one."

Yang snapped out of her daze before glaring at him. "That one doesn't count!"

"You blushed. So it counts."

Yang huffed before crossing her arms and turning her head away with her eyes closed. "See if I help you again."

"You make a very bad Weiss." Naruto deadpanned.

The blonde hair girl cracked one eye open to look at him only to see the happy grin she always associated with him back in place. Despite her best efforts her own lips started to mirror his. The two stared off for a second more before devolving into laughter.

XxX

The two blondes soon arrived on the outskirts of Vale outside a large building featuring a neon light fox breathing fire-shaped neon with the word "Foxfire" creatively scrawled in neon underneath. Heavy bass could be heard inside and there was a fairly long waiting line to get in. Naruto drove into the parking lot located on the club's right side before killing the engine.

"That ride wasn't too bad, Prince." Yang said with a grin as she hopped off the bike. "But next time, I'm driving. Then you'll know what real skill is."

After their short discussion, Naruto had been a little more upbeat and performed more stunts for his and Yang's amusement. He was still a little distracted, but it hadn't been bad enough for him to not have some fun on the trip.

"Is that a challenge, Miss Xiao Long?" Naruto said with a smirk.

"Yes, it's a challenge." She said as she walked alongside him.

"Didn't think you'd be up for another, especially since you're already losing our first contest by two points."

"One point," Yang corrected with a mock glare. "That surprise hug didn't count."

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Dust can you two be anymore childish!?" Weiss' voice yelled breaking up their playful argument as she and the rest of the girls they left at the intersection approached. "You're worse than Ruby sometimes!"

"Hey!" Ruby cried.

"Then there's the fact that you're both late!" Weiss continued ignoring the younger girl. "You even left before us! What were you doing!?"

"Did you stop for a quickie?" Kuro bluntly asked in her usual monotone.

Naruto blanched while Yang blushed, feeling humiliated by such an accusation. Naruto glanced over at his fellow blonde and caught her blush.

"Now _that one_ doesn't count." Naruto said before turning to reprimand the white hair Faunus. "And no, Kuro we didn't stop off for a quickie!"

"I'm not even sure I want to know why that was her first thought." Weiss said scandalized by the girl's question.

"That's because Master Uzumaki is well versed in various sexual acts that he draws upon when he is wri-" Whatever Kuro was about to say was quickly cut off by Naruto's hand.

"That's quite enough out of you." Naruto said before leaning close to whisper into her ear so no one else could hear what he had to say. "Continue to be a blabbermouth and I'll lock you in one of Foxfire's ceiling cages without your kimono."

Team RWBY watched as the already pale girl seemed to become translucent under Naruto's whispered threat. Those who knew the girl well enough, knew she wore her kimono traditionally which meant she was devoid of undergarments. What was worse for Kuro was that knowing her mother as well as she did, if Naruto followed through with his threat, Tamamo would only let her out after dancing in the cage for everyone to see for a set amount of time.

When Naruto let her go she turned and stated. "You're as scary as Mistress sometimes."

"Lies," He denied. "Now hurry up and escort us inside. I still have to make sure to get these four back to Beacon."

Kuro nodded before leading them to the front door. A large dark skinned man with rippling muscles and bear ears on his head manned the door.

"Is this club filled with nothing but Faunus?" Weiss asked doing a good job to hide her distaste though she still got a glare from Blake.

"It's owned and operated by a Faunus, but it's open to and staffed with both humans and Faunus." Naruto explained. "And for the love of Dust, whatever you do, do not say anything negative about Faunus when we're inside."

Weiss scoffed, but nodded her head to say she understood.

"Lady Kuro, Master Uzumaki, it's a pleasure to see you here again." The bouncer greeted. "Are these four girls with you?"

Kuro nodded before going inside. A few of the patrons waiting in line grumbled, but most recognized her as Tamamo's daughter.

"Kuma, my man! Anything fun happen lately?" Naruto asked the bouncer as he ushered Team RWBY inside. The grumbling evolved into protesting.

The big man shook his head. "Most everyone behaves themselves these days and Lady Tamamo was the one to deal with Junior's thugs."

"Let's see if we can liven things up for you." Naruto said before looking at the people glaring and shouting from the line. He took a moment to clear his throat before raising his middle finger at the crowd and shouting. "Suck it, bitches! Only the truly awesome are allowed inside!"

"You little prick! Why don't you come here and say that to my face!" A man somewhere in line shouted back.

"I don't fight pussies who wait in line because they can't force their way in like a real badass." Naruto punctuated his point by turning and punching Kuma in the gut. He knew what the man could take and made sure to only hit him hard enough to put on a show.

Kuma pretended to crumple over so he could get close enough to whisper to Naruto. "Thanks, Master Uzumaki. No doubt there will be a few dumbasses willing to take that challenge."

"No problem, Kuma." Naruto whispered back before shrugging him off and patting him on the back in a way that the crowd would interpret as mocking before walking inside.

Just beyond the door he stopped dead at the gaze of five girls on him. Team RWBY was bewildered by his actions while Kuro just sighed.

"Mistress will not be pleased if she has to cover the cost for an ambulance."

"Just tell her to put it on my tab." Naruto shrugged.

"You're a Gold Card VIP holder. You don't have a tab." Kuro deadpanned.

"And whose fault was that for giving me a Gold Card?"

Kuro shook her head before leading them through the building.

"So…what's a Gold Card get you?" Yang asked as she saddled up beside him.

"Free drinks and food, priority access into the club, and preferential treatment from the staff. Considering this club's popularity, it's not a bad deal."

"Huh…I wonder how I can get one of those." Yang mused.

"Sleeping with the owner of the club seems to be the method Naruto used." Blake stated.

"Can we please stop talking about my sex life?" Naruto asked them pointedly.

"Aw, are you getting uncomfortable, Prince?" Yang asked with a massive grin.

Naruto just grumbled as he continued on knowing anything he said would just be used against him.

"And the score is now tied up." Yang cheered.

"Still leading by one, Miss Blushes-when-Hugged." Naruto called over his shoulder.

Blake looked at her partner to see her sporting a blush from Naruto's nickname before growling. "It didn't count!"

"But the blush you're sporting now does!"

Yang growled louder before stomping after him. Blake just rolled her eyes.

XxX

The group of five were led to the back of the club allowing the girls of Team RWBY a chance check out the club as they walked. The room was dark and the lights on the ceiling gave a dim glow to better enhance the flashing colors coming from a mixture of neon and strobe lights. The center of the massive building was dominated by a large dance floor with the epicenter featuring a raised platform where the DJ was controlling the music. Two opposing walls featured bars that nearly ran the length of the wall with a number of bartenders moving back and forth to fill the customers' orders. The other two walls had floors that were depressed into the ground and filled with tables and chairs for people to rest and mingle. The most eye catching aspect of the club, however were the man-sized bird cages that held either a skimpily dressed man or woman inside dancing.

"That seems like a bit much." Blake commented.

"You'd think that," Naruto said noticing where she was looking. "But believe it or not, the cages are fairly popular. Every Tuesday and Thursday is amateur night where anyone brave enough can get in a cage and dance for ten minutes."

"How revolting." Weiss commented.

"Prig." Kuro stated as she rounded the bar on the west wall where a stairway leading up was concealed.

"How dare you!"

"Now, now Weiss." Naruto tsked as he followed Kuro up the stairs. "She has a point. Name one time when you were ever in a night club."

Weiss just huffed before crossing her arms and followed behind the rest of her team.

Upstairs was a small waiting area with one door leading to the owner's office. A single desk sat just off to the side of the door where Kuro took a seat and picked up a red phone that was connected to a phone inside the office.

"Mistress?" Kuro asked. "Naruto is here with his students…Four…No…One in particular. I'll send them in momentarily." As she hung up the phone she looked over blankly at Naruto. "You may go in now."

"Thanks, Kuro." Naruto said before opening the door to Tamamo's office. The rest of Team RWBY quickly followed after him and noted that the owner of the office seemed to like the color red. Red carpets, red walls, hell even the furniture was Redwood. The group looked around but didn't see anybody until they notice a faint silhouette of a woman behind a bamboo folding screen.

"I must say," A smooth sultry voice said from behind the screen. "You truly are a man among men, Naruto."

The girls of Team RWBY blushed when the woman stepped out from behind the screen suddenly feeling inadequate in so many ways. Tamamo was wearing a tight black corset with red trim that accented her sizeable bust and a black dress with a thigh-high slit giving viewers a chance to see her red lace underwear as she sashayed across the room and towards their commander. Her feet were bare letting them see her red painted toenails and her long red locks were done up in her signature nine low ponytail style. Her blood red eyes took a quick glance at each of them before locking back onto her primary target.

"You tell me you'll pay a visit and show up the first weekend of the school year." She said as she reached up to trace one of her fingernails down his chin. Naruto expertly hid his discomfort. He was well aware of just how dangerous her fingernails could be. "You say you'll bring guests and here I have four cute little girls."

She let her fingernail trail off his chin, but not before applying enough pressure to leave a small cut that started to bleed. Tamamo's eyes seemed to flash with a hidden emotion before she leant in to lick the blood off his chin. Her other hand came up to pat his cheek as she moved past him to one of his students. Ruby was her first victim as she waltzed around the youngest girl in the room inspecting her up and down.

"You…you are the little girl who stopped Torchwick's little operation and hospitalized three of Junior's thugs." Tamamo revealed as she walked behind Ruby trailing one hand from her left shoulder, across her back, and to her right shoulder. "Your cloak is adorable and I can see you have an appreciation for the color red. And what's this?"

Tamamo grabbed Ruby's weapon and started to inspect it.

"Um…" Ruby started, but was quickly silenced by a finger on her lips.

"Shh," Tamamo shushed her. "Don't get all worked up, I just want to see." With a click, Crescent Rose unfolded in the office and Tamamo gazed at it with a critical eye. "Hmm, a bit oversized, but I suspect you use that and your petite frame to your advantage. And using the pole of the weapon as a high-impact rifle, very clever. Oh, but it's the style itself I love most. A scythe is the perfect weapon for a bloody performance."

Tamamo collapsed the weapon before handing it back to the pale faced Ruby. The woman's critique had been spot on, but that last comment left the young girl feeling a bit horrified. The fox Faunus seemed to take no note of that as she moved on to Blake.

"And what have we here?" She asked as her hands moved to Blake's bow. Blake moved without thinking and immediately seized the older woman's wrist. Tamamo gave her a terrifying glare before it evaporated into a derisively amused smirk. "It seems you have some bite in you. Very well, I'll leave your shroud alone."

Tamamo then leant forward her mouth mere inches from Blake's ear before whispering. "But know this pretty kitty, if you grab me like that again I won't waste my time tearing you apart. I'll just reveal your questionable past and your former association with questionable people and watch merrily as the lynch mobs do it for me."

Blake gulped and shivered at the woman's tone quickly letting go of her and doing her best to subtly put some distance between them. Tamamo's smirk grew more dangerous seeing the girl's fear before moving over to Weiss.

"Oh my, you even have the Schnee Dust Company's heiress on your team." She commented as she took in the girl's defiant stance and hard look.

"Such bravado." Tamamo praised before her voice took on a false pityingly sad tone. "Too bad it's just a mask to hide a sad, lonely little girl."

Weiss's eyes narrowed as her glare grew more heated.

"Have I angered you, poor child?" Tamamo mocked. "I bet you feel like you have some level of superiority over my kind because of how your family conducts business. But…"

In a flash Weiss was on her knees with Tamamo's clawed hands digging into the girl's shoulders. The Schnee heiress looked up painfully at the red hair woman. Ruby took a step to intervene, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked questioningly at its owner, but Naruto shook just shook his head as he returned to watching Tamamo carefully. This was how Foxfire's owner worked. Anyone who thought they had some form of control in her club or considered themselves better than her quickly learned their place was at her feet and the harder you fought, the more it hurt.

"There is no one to save you here, _child._" Tamamo barked. "You are alone, as you always are, as you always will be! You are nothing! Just a snowflake entering the flame. Fleeting, unthreatening, and ultimately worthless to those with _real _power."

The red hair Faunus watched with a grim satisfaction as the anger and defiance in the girl's eyes died and was soon being replaced with hurt and helplessness. The eyes of a small child wandering through a dark forest all alone late at night. She released her hold on the Schnee heiress just as tears began to pool in her eyes. Tamamo stood back up and walked away from the quivering girl kneeling on the floor. Naruto let his hand drop signaling Ruby to quickly move over and comfort her partner.

Tamamo paused as she looked at the last member of Team RWBY. Her eyes took on a dangerous glint. "You!"

Yang paled considerably as Foxfire's owner approached her. Each person she had "greeted", if you could call it that had invoked an ever growing severe response from the woman.

"Yellow hair…violet eyes…" Tamamo marked off as she walked around Yang looking her up and down. She grabbed the younger girl's arm and studied her bracelets. "Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlets…You're the bitch who trashed Junior's club!"

Yang paled even further as the woman's tone grew furious.

"Do you have _any_ idea how much trouble your little stunt has caused me!? I had to go weeks with Junior's men harassing my club and my customers!" Tamamo yelled at her. Turning on her heel, she marched over to her desk and ripped open the top drawer before grabbing something within and marching back over to Yang. She sized the blonde up once more before holding something out to her with a pleasant smile. "Here's a Gold Card especially reserved for VIPs. You are more than welcome here any time you want."

"Wait, what?" Yang questioned dumbly as she numbly took the plastic card and studied it.

"Thanks to you my business has been booming and I had almost a month long constant source of entertainment." Tamamo explained fondly remembering all the men she had spent hours torturing before she ended their lives.

"You…you mean you're not angry?"

"Of course not, dear." Tamamo purred. "What sort of business woman would I be if I got upset with the girl who took out my competition?"

Yang stared at her owlishly before looking back at the card in her hand. A slow grin worked its way to her face. "Hey Prince, I'm going to go test out some of those Gold Card benefits you mentioned! Okay?"

Naruto face-palmed, but eventually nodded. After being put through the ringer with Tamamo, he knew his team would like nothing more than to get the hell out of the room. "Fine, but I'm setting some ground rules. First, you," He pointed at Yang. "Don't pass out or I'm dragging you back to Beacon by your feet! You," His finger moved to Ruby. "Stay with one of your teammates at all time."

"What!?" Ruby complained.

Naruto ignored her and pointed at Blake. "You…actually I've got nothing."

Blake smirked at the others.

Naruto then approached a still edgy Weiss and place a finger under her chin to lift her head up. Quietly and kindly he said, "And you, keep your head held high. The timid look doesn't suit you."

Weiss looked into his goggles before giving him a small smile. Naruto escorted his team to the door waiting until they were all out and the door was closed before rounding on Tamamo.

"You didn't have to be so cruel to her."

Tamamo gazed at him looking bored. "The little girl was asking for it, glaring at me like that. If you're pissed, then blame yourself for bringing her here."

"If you have a problem with them, then take it up with me. Don't ever act like that again."

Tamamo gave him a feral grin, her eyes holding a dangerous glint as she sauntered up to him. "Is the little prince getting attached? My, my, my you move fast. Only the first week of school and you're already fighting their battles."

They were standing just inches apart their noses nearly touching. Tamamo traced his cheek with a clawed hand, but Naruto didn't back down. He never did and it was that aspect of his personality that she valued most. He feared her like most intelligent people did, but he had the courage to stare her down as well. _That_ was something very few people could claim.

"They're _my _students. That means they're _my _responsibility." Naruto said icily.

Tamamo gave him an amused hum as she stared into his face searching for something only she could find. Satisfied with what she saw she closed the distance between them and planted a searing kiss on his lips before biting down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. Naruto pushed her off and brought a hand to his lips while glaring at the grinning Faunus in front of him. He could see his blood on her lips and watched as she tantalizingly licked it off.

"Ah," She sighed sounding pleased. "It's been so long since I've kissed a real man."

"Too bad for you I'm here for business instead of pleasure."

"It could always be both. I could even have little Kuro drive the kiddies back to the shuttle port and ensure they make it back to Beacon."

"I've spoken with Jiraiya, Tamamo. You've been keeping secrets from me." Naruto said, ignoring her and purposely being vague.

"So you know Konoha as an envoy in Vale, huh?" Tamamo asked, but quickly noted his surprise. She smirked at him before tsking. "Naughty boy. You didn't know, did you? So what did the old pervert say?"

"Only that Konoha was becoming more militarized." Naruto admitted. "Seems you know more than I thought. Who is the envoy?"

"Ah, ah, ah." Tamamo said waving a finger back and forth. "You already got one freebie out of me."

Naruto grumbled before reaching into his pants to pull out his wallet and tossed a large amount of lien to her. He'd done business with her long enough to have her prices memorized. Tamamo caught the money before giving his crotch a longing look. "And here I was hoping you'd pay me with something else hidden in your pants."

"The envoy, Tamamo." Naruto pressed getting an annoyed glare from the woman. Tamamo walked back to her desk before opening a hidden drawer and pulling out a file. Naruto was one of her top clients and so unlike a lot of the information she kept, the ones he'd be most interested in were always on hand for her.

"A familiar face, if I recall." She commented as she handed him the file.

Naruto opened it, but didn't even bother reading the filed reports within. He was too busy staring wide eyed at the pictures of a boy about his age with black hair, eyes, and a large pair of wings protruding from his back. One name escaped his lips. "…Sasuke."

(End of Chapter 3; Part 2)

Omake 1 Club Daze

**Yang**

Yang had quickly separated from the rest of her team and ran down the stairs heading straight for the bar. She flashed her newly acquired Gold Card and a bartender quickly approached to take her order.

"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice. And don't forget one of those cute little umbrellas!" She ordered before considering the fact that she was free to drink as much as she wanted and it wouldn't cost her a thing. "And make sure you have plenty ready!"

The bartender, a young human in his early twenties filled her order. He had shaggy brown hair and what many girls would consider a charming face. "So how did you come to get a Gold Card?"

"I kicked a lot of ass and impressed the boss lady!" Yang cheered as she drained her glass and ordered another.

"Ha! Sounds like an awesome story." He said before sliding her a different drink. Yang studied the glass. It was a near black looking drink that only showed hints of red when the light hit it the correct way.

"What's this? This isn't what I ordered."

"You like Strawberry Sunrises, right? You should give this a shot. It's called a Twilight Eclipse. Tastes similar to a Sunrise, but it's a lot stronger."

Yang gave it a tentative sip and found it did indeed taste like a Strawberry Sunrise. "This is awesome!"

"It's also expensive, but since you're a Gold Card member I figured what the hell?"

The two continued to talk back and forth for a good twenty minutes. Yang had just finished her second Twilight Eclipse and was already wobbling in her seat and leaning heavily on the counter.

"So…hey, I'm off in ten minutes. You want to get out of here and have some fun?" The bartender asked.

Yang looked at him through bleary eyes then down at her empty glass before back at him. Her mind was slogging through all the alcohol as it processed his question before she realized what was going on. The guy was nearing the end of his shift and saw fit to get her as drunk as possible hoping to get lucky!

"D'yous thing Ah'm beaut-boot…pretty?" She slurred. The man gave her a dashing smile before nodding. "D'you what to kish me?"

Yang puckered up inviting the young man to kiss her. The bartender saw his chance and leaned in to kiss her. Only for Yang to slam her fist into his face with enough force to knock out his teeth and send him slamming into the back wall where a couple expensive bottles of alcohol fell down and struck him.

"Woohoo!" Yang cheered as she swayed. "Take dat misher sax off ender! Now shumun gib me anudder drank!"

**Ruby and Weiss**

"This sucks! Today sucks! Everything sucks!" Weiss moaned as she played babysitter to the young Ruby. The two girls were sitting at one of the tables against the wall of the club. Occasionally a couple of guys would come over to hit on them, but a few choice words from Weiss had them scurrying away.

"Uh huh." Ruby agreed not paying attention.

"First I miss my chance to see Gama Bakatchu, then I'm forced to wander around Vale doing nothing valuable with my time, and now I'm in a club run by a deranged psychopath playing babysitter to my team leader!"

"That's nice, Weiss." Ruby said distracted.

"And…are you even listening to me?" Weiss yelled as she rounded on Ruby only to see the younger girl had Weiss' copy of "The Mermaid" in her hands and was currently reading it. "What the…how did…give me back my book, dammit!"

Ruby quickly saw the glare coming from the evil book thief and was on her feet running away as fast as she could while still reading. "You'll never take me alive!"

The Schnee heiress quickly chased after her. It was official. Today was Weiss' worse day ever.

**Blake**

Blake was still upstairs leaning against the wall. She had no interest in the club scene or mingling for that matter. As she waited for Naruto to finish up his meeting she looked to the floor to see a small red dot moving by her feet. She did her best to ignore it, but every time she tried to look away the damn think would zip around her feet. She glared hatefully at the little red dot before trying to subtly crush it with her foot. However, every time she nearly crushed it, it would zip out from under her.

Blake looked up at Kuro who was sitting calmly at her desk filing paperwork. She looked back down and sure enough, that accursed little dot of light was still there taunting her! She tried to subtly crush it again, soon she gave up subtlety and was actively trying to stomp it. The sound of a clearing throat drew Blake's attention and she looked up to see Kuro staring at her.

"Problems?" She asked.

"It's nothing." Blake said a little heatedly.

"Very well," Kuro replied before going back to work.

Blake looked back down, but now the little red dot from hell was on her chest! She batted at it as best she could but the damn thing kept moving!

From her place at her desk, Kuro gave a small smile as she watched her fellow cat Faunus face off against the laser pointer of torment. Now she understood why Mistress kept using it on her whenever the fox Faunus got bored.

(End of Club Daze)

XxX

(Omake 2 Ozpin's Revenge)

It was nearing one in the afternoon on Sunday. Ozpin was in his office overlooking the campus with an active scroll showing live security footage of one individual. A troublemaker of the highest order and someone who would suffer for his many sins. He could just make out the small orange clad ant from his position high in his tower and watched as it happily marched to the mess hall.

"Everything is coming together perfectly." Ozpin said to himself before turning to his desk. "All that's left is the catalyst."

XxX

Naruto was making his way to the cafeteria. All day his mind had been plagued by thoughts of Konoha and the news of his former best friend being in Vale, but now he could feel content knowing the next twenty minutes would leave him in ignorant bliss as he enjoyed the Food of the Gods. Still, he had this niggling little feeling in the back of his head that had him on edge. He had just opened the doors and stepped into the mess hall when the intercoms kicked on.

"Ah hem, good afternoon students of Beacon. This is your headmaster speaking." Came Ozpin's voice over the loud speaker. "As you know, we here at Beacon Academy strive to give you the best education possible so that when you graduate you can go out into the world and perform your duties to the utmost of your abilities."

"Why is the headmaster giving us a speech?" One student asked

"Yeah, this feels like something he should be saying at orientation." Another commented.

_I have a bad feeling about this._ Naruto thought as he continued to listen.

"No doubt you are all wondering why I'm here saying this to you now. We have tests, classes, and assignments both practical and theoretical meant to measure your skills and insure that you are at the level you need to be. However, while these things are important, they do not provide you with what we, the staff feel is enough incentive for you push yourself above and beyond your limits."

_I have a _very_ bad feeling about this. _Naruto thought as the hairs on his neck started to rise.

"That is why, until curfew tonight, we will be hosting a campus wide contest." Ozpin spoke. Naruto was sweating as he could just hear the ill-intent in those words. "As all of you are no doubt aware, this school hosts the youngest Hunter of the past century."

All eyes in the cafeteria turned to look at Naruto.

"And for the sake of this contest, Professor Uzumaki has gladly volunteered himself to play the role of your target."

_The hell I did!_

"Your objective is to capture Professor Uzumaki. As a fully trained Huntsman, this will be no easy feat. So, for the first student or students if you are working together to succeed we, the staff will award you with a grand prize. A two week pass from all homework! On top of that, we will also drop your lowest test score in each of your classes at the end of the semester!"

All the eyes watching Naruto turned dangerous. Some students were already slowly starting to rise from their seats.

"That being said, Professor Uzumaki personally felt the stakes weren't high enough and so he has also offered to take the winner or winners of this contest into Vale for an all-expense paid trip!"

The eyes switched from dangerous to deadly and Naruto was rapidly paling as he saw the various looks on the students.

"That is all. Have fun, Naruto."

Naruto quickly turned and kicked the doors to the mess hall off their hinges as he booked it across the field with the whole student body giving chase. Any student who laid eyes on him immediately began to move forward to try and capture him. Semblances were used, weapons were drawn, and Naruto was doing everything he could to escape the manic teenagers. The young professor quickly reached into his coat and pulled out his scroll dialing a certain frequency as he ran for his life.

XxX

Up in his tower, Ozpin watched the chaos down below with sick satisfaction. The chime of his scroll alerted him to an incoming call and his smile grew wider. He answered the call and waited for the person to speak.

"You motherfucker! Not only have you kept me from my ramen, but you also offered them an all-expense paid trip into Vale with my money!? That's going too far you sick son of a bitch!" Naruto shouted over the line, explosions filtering in from the background.

"Naruto, I just want to say. I've been wanting to do this for a long, long time." Ozpin said as he picked up the scroll.

"Do wha-"

*Click*

XxX

Naruto looked at his scroll with shock and anger. "That asshole just hung up on me!"

XxX

It was twenty minutes later before he had managed to make it to the training fields and use the trees for cover. He had tried running for the Emerald Forest hoping to hide out there, but the student body had been prepared for him and had lined up in wait, cutting off his escape. The landing platforms were a dead end as well since there were no Bullheads docked. Something Ozpin had no doubt set up.

He took a minute to formulate a plan while the students carefully combed through the forested areas of the training fields. The rules stated that the first student or group of students to capture him would be the winner. That meant the second someone won, the contest would end. But he had to be careful with who won. His wallet was on the line! So whoever "captured" him had to be someone he could trust! Someone who wouldn't go nuts in Vale and spend all his money! Someone like…

"I've got to find Blake!" Naruto though as he rushed off.

XxX

Blake was sitting on a bench outside reading a book and enjoying the good weather. She had heard Ozpin's announcement, but chose to ignore it. Capturing her commander was too bothersome and would cut into her reading time. Sure the prizes had sounded nice, but she couldn't help but feel Naruto had, had this coming for some time. Karma was a bitch like that.

"Blake!" Naruto's voice shouted, breaking her from her reading. Blake sighed but looked up from her book to see him standing in front of her. "You heard the announcement right?"

She nodded.

"Good! Catch me!" He cried.

"…No." Blake said before returning to her book.

"What do you mean "no"!? Didn't you hear the prize!?"

"…Yes." She answered turning the page.

"Then what are you waiting for!? I'll take you to the finest seafood restaurant! Get you the biggest ball of yarn! I'll even get you a pound of catnip!" He exclaimed. "Now, catch me!"

"..."

"Hey! Don't you ignore- Oh shit! They're coming!" Naruto panicked as he heard the heavy footfalls of the student body.

"…Better hide then." Blake suggested not once looking up from her book. Naruto leapt into some nearby bushes and held his breath. Not ten seconds later no less than eighty students stopped right in front of Blake looking every which way.

"I could have sworn I heard him somewhere over here." A student said.

One girl turned to look at Blake and asked. "Hey, have you seen Professor Uzumaki?"

Blake turned the page of her book before pointing at the bush Naruto was hiding in. "He's over there."

Naruto stood up and yelled. "You Dust-damned traitor!"

And once more the chase was on.

_That's for all the cat jokes._ Blake thought to herself as she kept reading.

XxX

Naruto had once more managed to lose his pursuers when he had ran into the school building and then leapt out the window on the third floor. Some of the bolder students had followed him out, but they weren't able to come out all at once and after Naruto had beat down the first three to jump after him the rest decided it would be safer to head back down the stairs with the rest. Naruto had smirked at that, nothing in the rules said he couldn't fight back.

Since Blake had been a backstabber, Naruto had moved down to the next person on his list. Yang. He had no idea where she was, but he knew that even if she spent a lot of his money, they would at least have a lot of fun. He was approaching the dorms when he froze up, his senses picking up a terrifying presence. A great evil that had no comparison. A threat that had his wallet shivering in fear like a child afraid of the Grimm hiding in their closet.

Naruto's head slowly turned to face the evil as one name escaped his lips. "…Ruby?"

Ruby's head hung low with her bangs shadowing her eyes, but Naruto could swear those eyes were glowing a menacing red. "First, we'll go to the bookstore and get all three of Gama Bakatchu's books plus all one-hundred and twenty-eight volumes of the "Super Huntress Amy" graphic novels. Then, we'll go to the toy store and I'll get all the members of Team RWBY and JNPR the biggest, bestest, stuffed animal I can! Then, we'll go to the Dust shop and get everyone enough Dust to last them the rest of the year…and next year! Plus we'll go to all my favorite restaurants and the arcade! And then…"

There was no end to the list of things Ruby planned to do with his money and Naruto had never felt more afraid of anyone in his whole life.

"N-now Ruby. Just c-calm down." Naruto said holding his hands up in a placating manner as he took a single step back.

Ruby's eyes flashed as she charged him with help from her semblance. "Victory will be mine!"

XxX

Meanwhile in Team RWBY's dorm room. Yang was currently laying on the floor with a small waste bin next to her. She was completely hung-over from her bout of heavy drinking the night before. She hadn't even managed to make it to her bed before she passed out. The next morning she had woke up to see a bottle of water, two painkillers, and the waste bin right next to her head. She had never been more thankful as she had just made it to her knees before vomiting into the waste bin. Her head ached like a horde of Ursa were stomping around and trying to break out and all attempts to take the painkillers had resulted in her vomiting more.

When the announcement had been made she had done her best to push herself to her feet to compete. She made it two steps before rushing back for the waste bin and heaving again. She collapsed to the floor after that and decided to give up moving.

"Ne-never…drinking…again…" She groaned before passing out once more.

XxX

Naruto was inside the library catching his breath after his near capture to the leader of Team RWBY. Dodging her had been hard enough, but when the rest of the student body caught up with him it had become a nightmare! He had only barely managed to escape after he had gotten some rope and tied the crimson menace up.

XxX

Out in the center courtyard Ruby was tied upside-down face against one of Beacon's flagpoles. She was crying tears of humiliation as her commander had tied up her ankles and her chest from the waist up, pinning her arms to her side and letting gravity pull at her skirt to reveal her chibi-beowolf panties for everyone to see.

"WHAAAA!" Ruby cried. "STUPID, NARUTO! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

XxX

Naruto carefully made his way between the shelves making sure to peak around corners before moving. Apparently all the students were out searching the campus. There was evidence everywhere to suggest that everyone who had been in the library had abandoned their stuff in an attempt to catch him.

Naruto sighed as he did his best to hide. Blake had betrayed him, Yang was nowhere to be found, and Ruby was more dangerous than anyone else! The only member of his team left was the one he had originally written off as the greatest threat. Weiss was the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and was used to the highlife. If he had to rely on her, he may as well have let Ruby catch him.

He was about to start moving again when a prickling sensation alerted him that he was being watched. Naruto cautiously turned around to see dozens and dozens of faces pressed against the windows of the library looking at him hungrily. The students had found him.

"Quick! Surround the library! We'll trap him in!" One girl ordered

"Fuck!" Naruto yelled as he started running. He passed table after table when something white caught his eye. He stopped to look and was shocked to see a sleeping Weiss laying with her head against a book she had obviously been reading. What was she doing in the library? Wait, stupid question! Weiss was a perfectionist, so of course she'd be studying on the weekend. The better question was, why is she sleeping?

Simultaneously the four entrances to the library were kicked open and a student shouted. "Upperclassmen, guard the doors! Lowerclassmen, block the windows! Once everyone is in position those not guarding a potential escape route will begin searching the library!"

"Fuck it!" Naruto said not caring why Weiss was asleep. He rushed over to the girl and quickly shook her awake. "Wake up! Wake up, damn you!"

Weiss' eyes snapped open as she looked around in confusion. "Huh? What? Naruto what the hell do-"

"No time for that! Hug me!" Naruto said.

"What!?" Weiss shouted, scandalized at his audacity. "I'm not going to hug you!"

"You hear that?" A far off voice asked.

"Don't move! It could be a distraction! Wait until everyone's in position!" Another ordered.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked glancing around the library but saw no one else but Naruto.

"Not important!" Naruto said. "Now hug me dammit!"

"I'm not hugging you!"

"I order you to glomp me!" He demanded.

"That's an abuse of power _and _sexual harassment!" She raged.

"Everyone's in position! Begin the search!"

Panicking, Naruto grabbed Weiss by her jacket, lifted her out of her chair, and brought her a shy few inches from his face. "Weiss Schnee! You will hug me this very instant or I will make the next four years of your schooling a living hell that will be etched into the very fabrics of reality! Parents will tell stories to their children of the horrors I will inflict upon you if you do not do as I say and hug me RIGHT NOW!"

Weiss didn't need any further incentive before she threw her arms around Naruto pinning his arms to his side and squeezing him as tightly as possible. It was in that moment thirty students appeared around them looking shocked at the pair.

Naruto glanced at all the students before giving them a nervous chuckle. "Sorry everyone. It was a good plan, but this girl managed to get me before you finished your preparations."

"B-but that means we won right?" One girl asked. "You were trapped in here thanks to us."

"Nope! As I said, she got me _before_ your group managed to block off all the exits." Naruto lied. "Not only that, but she was already inside the library which means she was never part of your group. She won singlehandedly."

The students groaned before walking off. "Mission's a failure everyone. Someone beat us to the punch!"

Another series of groans could be heard throughout the library.

Naruto sighed in relief. "Okay, Weiss. You can let go."

However, he was surprised when the girl refused to and instead asked. "So when's the trip to Vale?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked looking down at the smirking girl fearfully.

"Please, do you really think I'd fall asleep while preparing for next week's lessons?" Weiss asked haughtily. "I was awake the whole time."

"But…but…"

"I knew the second you saw me alone and sleeping in the library you'd assume I missed Ozpin's announcement and try to take advantage of the situation."

"But then…why weren't…"

Weiss finally released him before answering. "Why didn't I try to give chase earlier? Easy, I didn't care. Do I really look like the type of girl who cares about not doing homework or having my lowest test grade dropped? I get all A's, Naruto. But then you came waltzing into the library and I saw an opportunity that I just couldn't ignore."

Naruto stared at the grinning girl in shock before hanging his head in defeat. "Clever girl."

(End of Ozpin's Revenge)

Whew! 14385 words without the AN! That means the entirety of chapter 3 plus the omakes came out to be over 25k words. That's a pretty long chapter! Anyway, to my great regret I forgot to say this last chapter so I'm saying it in bold here so everyone will notice!

**Special thanks to Dreadman75 for his help on this chapter! Both parts 1 and 2!**

Seriously people, that guy helped me a lot more than he may think and even kept me from writing a scene I know I would have regretted! So yeah, major kudos to him!

Anyway, I'm kind of shocked no one has guessed Naruto's fairytale allusion yet! I gave a major clue last chapter and there are a few here as well. I know some of you may be wondering about Sasuke's character allusion and make no mistake, he has one. However, there isn't enough info yet for me to want to write it out for this chapter so I'm saving it for the next chapter.

That aside, what did you all think of Tamamo and Kuro? We finally get to see them interact with Team RWBY and learn more about their personalities. I hope you liked them because I liked writing them. I know some of you might be a little angry with Jiraiya, but keep in mind my story has some complexities to it and he has good reason for wanting Naruto to take back the life he gave up.

Hopefully his and Naruto's motivations will be made clear in the next chapter when I go into Naruto's backstory.

Also, I hope you enjoyed the omakes, "Club Daze" was meant to actually take place in the story, but I liked ending the chapter on a serious note instead because it sets up the next chapter which.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and leave me plenty of reviews to feed my addiction!


	5. The Prince's Past

(Chapter 4: The Prince's Past)

_The sun was high on a bright, cloudless midsummer's day. A cool breeze blew through the area and the birds sang merrily. All in all it was a perfect day that should have lifted the spirits of everyone. It _should_ have. However, for one sobbing nine year old blonde, today was just another nightmare in what felt like a never-ending string of nightmares. He had run far, far away from the safety of the city that was his home. Or what he had once considered his home. It certainly didn't feel like home anymore. Not since the day his father died._

_It had barely been a week and already people seemed to be moving on with their lives, picking up where they had left off after the news of their king's death, and obeying the words of Naruto's self-proclaimed "Royal Advisor" Danzo Shimura. The blonde couldn't take it! How could the people move on so quickly!? Why did they listen so closely to what Danzo said!? The man talked about Faunus superiority and how the Faunus needed to take a firmer stance in the world so that Humans would cease their hateful acts against them. Everything he said went against the teachings of Naruto's father! Of Konoha!_

_So he ran. He ran as far as his little legs could carry him and he kept running until he reached the borders of Konoha's territory. He would have continued running, but had been forced to stop when he reached the edge of a cliff. He collapsed there and let the world hear his anguish. Crying until the tears ran out and mucus poured from his nose. No one cared about what his father preached, nor did anyone seem to care about what his family had stood for, and no one was willing to listen to him because to them, he was just a child!_

_"NARUTO!" A familiar voice shouted. He soon heard someone running up behind him._

_The blonde wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt before turning to look at his best friend, a young boy named Sasuke Uchiha. He was about the same age as Naruto with black hair and eyes with a small pair of black feathered wings protruding from his back._

_"What are you doing out here!?" Sasuke demanded. "It's dangerous! There could be Grimm in the area! We need to get home!"_

_"Shut up!" Naruto raged catching his friend by surprise. "That place isn't my home! My home was peaceful! My home didn't talk bad about Humans! That place isn't Konoha! I'm not going back!"_

_Sasuke quickly regained his composure and glared at his blonde counterpart. "What are you talking about!? Konoha hasn't changed at all, idiot!" _

_"Then why is everyone talking about standing up to the Humans! Dad said we needed to learn to coexist! To respect each other!"_

_"Haven't you been listening to, Master Danzo?" Sasuke asked his eyes narrowing further at his friend for being so stubborn. "The Humans don't respect us because we don't respect ourselves! We are always trying to do our best to make them like us and all our kind has ever received is abuse!"_

_Naruto covered his ears and shook his head. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Ever since someone killed dad, that's all anyone ever says anymore! Danzo says this! Danzo says that!"_

_Sasuke groaned before stomping his foot. "Are you even listening to yourself!? No one killed the king, idiot! He died of illne-"_

_The black haired Faunus was cut off when Naruto sucker punched him across the face. "My dad did not die from some stupid sickness! He was the strongest person in Konoha! He wouldn't be taken down by a stupid cough!"_

_Sasuke wanted to get up and attack his idiotic blonde hair friend, but before he could stand four adults arrived wearing leather and ceramic armor with blank porcelain masks hiding their faces. They were the Konoha border patrol charged with aiding lost Faunus, attacking any Grimm approaching the village, and misdirecting Humans that neared their territory._

_"Your Highness, Master Danzo is very worried about you. You are too important to Konoha's future. We are here to escort you back home." The leader stated in a dead tone. _

_Naruto looked at them fearfully, these weren't the border patrol his father had employed nor were they his assigned protectors. Genma and Raido were warm and friendly as were most of the men his father assigned to watch the border. These men were cold and lifeless, like puppets._

_As if hearing his thoughts, Sasuke asked. "Where are Naruto's bodyguards?"_

_"Master Danzo felt their skills were better suited for the field and has sent them on extended missions."_

_Naruto knew that couldn't be true. Genma and Raido took their jobs incredibly seriously. They had been his father's best friends growing up and always treated Naruto like a nephew. They wouldn't have accepted extended missions and left him feeling even more alone! Not so soon after his dad died! He took a step back, then another._

_"Naruto watch out!" Sasuke shouted, but it was too late. Naruto's second step had taken him past the edge of the cliff and before anyone could react the blonde disappeared over the edge._

_Naruto watched with morbid fascination as the cliff edge quickly got further and further away. He had never intended to jump off the cliff, much less fall. But on the plus side, he wouldn't be going back to Konoha._

_Those were his last thoughts before he slammed into the river at the bottom of the cliff and everything went black._

XxX

Naruto shot up in his bed gasping for air and drenched in a cold sweat. He held his head in his hands as he did his best to force the memories of his past back to the depths of his mind. It had been two weeks since he talked to Tamamo and Jiraiya, since he learned Sasuke was in Vale. Two very long weeks. He grabbed his goggles from the nightstand and got out of bed making his way mechanically around the room.

The first week he had put up a strong front for everyone. He put more effort in his teaching, training, and teasing. But try as he might, he could see it in the eyes of those around him. The questioning gazes. They could sense a change in him. The second week was worse. Memories of his past would pop up as if to remind him of all the things he wished to forget. Jiraiya's words about responsibility and duty would echo in his head and Naruto's only remedy was to go out into the training fields and work himself to the point of collapse.

Naruto entered his personal bathroom and stripped out of his boxers before stepping into the shower. He wasn't even mindful of how hot or cold the water was. He was too tired to care. After putting on an act the first week and pushing himself to the breaking point the second, he was both physically and mentally exhausted. He no longer had the strength to fight the memories when they came.

He turned off the water and toweled off before putting on his clothes for the day. He knew he was too sluggish and needed some more assistance waking up. He pulled up his goggles and moved over to the sink turning on the cold water and splashed his face a few times to try and kick start things. As he stood back up, his scroll went off. Pulling down his goggles and reaching into his coat pocket with his face still wet, he answered the call and waited for the person on the other end to speak.

XxX

_"Hey, kid! You awake?" A troubled voice called. "Or even alive?" _

_Naruto groaned. His body ached and he was soaked head to toe. The last thing he remembered was falling off the cliff. Now all he could think about was how much he hurt and how cold he was. _

_"Damn, brat. You're a tough little bastard." The voice who spoke earlier commended. Naruto managed to crack his eyes open to see a tall, middle-aged man with long spiky white hair staring down at him. He wore a red vest over a white shirt with grey pants and on his face rested a hideous looking pair of sunglasses. "You're lucky I was fishing around these parts when I stumbled upon you."_

_"C-can't g-go back." Naruto mumbled as he tried to get up. He didn't care what the man had to say, this was his chance to get away from Konoha and he wasn't going to miss it. However, a strong hand on his chest gently held him down. _

_"Settle down, brat. I don't know what you're doing out here or why, but you're in no condition to go anywhere. Much less on your own." The man pulled out a small knife and started cutting Naruto's shirt away and took a moment to survey all the cuts and deep bruising before taking off his own red vest and using it to cover the blonde. "That ought to keep you warm until I can make us a fire."_

_Naruto tried to move his arms to pull the vest tighter, but found his arms unresponsive._

_"Stop moving, dumbass." The old man said lightly flicking his forehead. "Dust knows how many fractures or full-on breaks you've got. So quit moving and lay there like a good cripple."_

_Naruto managed a weak glare before asking. "W-who are you?"_

_"Name's Jiraiya. Now stay here. I'll get some wood and start us a fire."_

_The man, Jiraiya disappeared for a while, but periodically returned with wood and to check up on him._

XxX

_Naruto would spend well over a month with Jiraiya simply recovering from the number of injuries he had. Over a dozen fractures dotted his body and his leg had to be reset and braced with a splint. Still, despite the pain, the blonde felt happy for the first time since his father died. Jiraiya didn't ask him about his past, he didn't seem to care. All the old man did was help him recover, teased him, or giggled in an eerie manner whenever he was writing in his little notebook. It helped him forget about Konoha and Danzo. But all good things come to an end eventually and a week after he had fully recovered, Naruto was forced to face the music._

_At dinner one night, a meal consisting of fish and berries they had gathered earlier, Jiraiya asked. "So, kid. Want to tell me why Konoha's prince was floating in the river damn near dead?"_

_Naruto froze with a bit of fish poking out of his mouth. He chewed his food slowly before swallowing and mumbling a response._

_"What was that, kid?"_

_"I said I'm not the prince!" Naruto suddenly shouted catching Jiraiya off-guard. "I'm just a regular kid!"_

_"Is that so…" Jiraiya spoke in a way that clearly said he didn't believe him. "Well that blonde hair, the clothes I found you in, and most importantly those toad-based eyes of yours says otherwise."_

_"Konoha doesn't have a prince!" Naruto insisted as tear pooled in his eyes. With a sniff he added. "Just like it doesn't have a king!"_

_Jiraiya looked shocked at hearing that. "What do you mean "Konoha doesn't have a king"? What happened to Minato?"_

_"He's dead!" Naruto cried. Sobs wracked his little body as he continued to vent his pain. The past month had been a great distraction from the truth. But now all the pain and grief Naruto had bottled up came boiling to the surface. "Everyone says it was because he was sick! But I know they're wrong! My…" The blonde's words died on his lips before he found the resolve to stand up and give a fierce tear stained glare at Jiraiya. "My dad would never die from something like that!"_

_Jiraiya sat there stunned at the news of Minato's death. He had known the former king since the king was a kid. Hell he had been like a second father to Minato! Now here he was eating a forester's humble dinner with Minato's own kid and learning the boy he had considered a son was now dead. And from a sickness of all things! Jiraiya knew it was possible. Even the strongest could fall victim to disease, but he also knew Minato was hardy. Having trained the boy himself had proven that._

_Then there was the fact that Naruto seemed to think the same. Sure it could just be a simple matter of a boy looking at his father like he was some superhero, but Jiraiya suspected there was more to it than that._

_"What else can you tell me about Konoha, kid?" Jiraiya asked him seriously._

_Naruto didn't know how to respond. Did Jiraiya believe him? No one else had, but it seemed the old man who helped him recover over the last month was actually willing to listen. The boy broke down and spouted off everything he could. From Danzo taking over to the disappearance of Genma and Raido. Everything he could think of. It all came out in a jumbled mess, but Jiraiya still managed to follow it easily enough. His eyes darkened as he heard more and more from the boy in front of him. _

_Finally, Naruto ran out of things to say. He huffed and puffed as his mind and body were still worked up, but there was just nothing else coming. Jiraiya got up and walked over to him before kneeling down and resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. He spoke three words that struck Naruto to the core._

_"I believe you."_

_A fresh round of tears came to the nine year old before he lunged forward and buried his face into the older man's chest and sobbed once more. He'd finally found someone who was willing to believe him._

XxX

Naruto performed a backflip narrowly avoiding a serpentine Grimm with six birdlike wings; two small wings just behind the head, two towards the tip of its tail and the largest pair midway on its body. Peter had called him yesterday morning saying everything was set up for their first joint lesson. As he had promised the first week of the school year, Naruto showed up to face the Quetz-Coatals.

"As you can see," Peter said off to the side behind the barriers of training field thirty-one with all his class' students. "The Quetz-Coatal is a fast moving beast! Though it is known as the "winged serpent", we can see clearly for ourselves that it doesn't fly so much as glide."

Sure enough the serpent Naruto was facing off against coiled up like a spring before it launched itself high into the air and started circling the blonde.

"If you look closely you can even see the minute movements of its neck and tail wings. This is how the creature is able to turn on the dime." Peter continued his explanation. "Ah! It's going for another lunge! See how it pulls its larger wings in? That is a sign that it is preparing to dive!"

Just as he finished speaking the beast dove after Naruto once more. This time the blonde didn't dodge. Instead he jumped up when the Grimm was in range and snapped a kick to the side of its head diverting it to his left where it struck the ground headfirst before recovering and circling Naruto on the ground.

"Good show, Naruto!" Peter praised. "Now, I'm sure you all have noticed a few flaws in the beast's approach. Can anyone name a few?"

"It's rather small," Blake answered. "Tiny in comparison to a King Taijitu. I would say it uses its size to its advantage to make it move faster, but it doesn't seem to have a lot of endurance."

"Very good, Miss Belladonna!" The hefty professor cheered. "Yes, the Quetz-Coatal only ever grows from ten to twelve feet in length and eight to ten inches or so in width. Anyone else?"

"It's stupid. All it ever does is attack head on." Cardin spoke pretentiously.

"Not how I would put it, Mr. Winchester, but you're right! This particular Grimm has a very predictable attack pattern. As Professor Uzumaki has demonstrated time and again it is easy to avoid so long as you keep your eyes on it. That being said however, there is one little fact I've yet to mention."

A number of the students turned to glance over at Peter as he walked to a much larger cage than the one that held the first Quetz-Coatal.

"These Grimm…" He paused for dramatic effect as he raised his blunderbuss axe. "…Are pack hunters!"

The axe came down and the door to the cage opened releasing two more of the winged serpents into the field. That was the beauty of training field thirty-one's barrier tech. It let things in, but not out.

"Now let's see how you handle-" Before Peter could even finish the fight was over.

One of the new serpents to join the battle flew forward with its mouth open only to receive a throwing knife that pierced the roof of its jaw that stabbed its brain. The first serpent Naruto was fighting came at him from behind, but the blonde danced to the side and drove a second throwing knife into the top of its head. The final serpent came at him from above, but was cut short by a quick application of his semblance. Before the Grimm could recover Naruto pinned it down with a foot at the junction where its head connects to its body before grabbing the base of its skull with one hand and its lower jaw with the other, giving it a savage twist and snapping its neck.

"…Huh." Peter said as he and the rest of the class stared in shock at the expedient end to the demonstration. "I was hoping that would have lasted a little longer…"

Team RWBY was off to the side looking just as stunned as Peter. Even though they only knew him for a little over three weeks, they could easily tell something was wrong. Naruto was a bit of a showoff and doubly so when he fought something he outclassed. They had never known him to end a fight _that_ quickly.

"Um, let's all give Professor Uzumaki a round of applause!" Peter said trying to be as enthusiastic as he could without showing his concern for his young friend.

XxX

_A slow methodical clapping broke Naruto from his spot standing over a dead Ursa. He was thirteen and had just been forced to take the beast on with nothing but a handful of throwing knives. _

_"Not bad, brat. Only took you twelve minutes." Jiraiya deadpanned. "I was starting to think I might be able to get some shuteye in before you managed to kill the damn thing."_

_Naruto stalked over to the older man and punched him in the face. "It would have gone a lot faster if you had let me use my real weapon and not these stupid things!"_

_Jiraiya responded with his own punch on top of the blonde's head that sent him face first into the dirt. "Only stupid people rely on one weapon, stupid! Throwing knives are a perfect backup! They're small which makes them easy to carry, have a ton of different ways they can be used, and offer you an alternative to drawing those oversized clubs of yours! If that isn't a good enough reason then here's this. You aren't getting your weapons back until I feel you have a mastery and appreciation for throwing knives! Now get up! I'm not dragging your ass back to camp!"_

_Naruto groaned as he pushed his haggard body up and followed after his mentor. Part of him wanted to know why he had to do this. For the last three and a half years, Jiraiya had put him through rigorous training. His entire life had become a set schedule of travel, exercise, sparring, travel, and ending the day in either a brothel or a campsite only to repeat itself. Almost every day left the blonde too tired to move and every time he reached the point of exhaustion, Jiraiya would push him to do more. It wasn't all bad though, the old pervert taught him many different things besides how to fight and the few times Naruto didn't find himself completely drained he would notice how much stronger he had become. He could even say he had fun most days. Still, it felt like the old man had something in mind, some scheme he was working towards and Naruto could only wonder what that was._

_From his spot at the front, Jiraiya was concentrating on his own thoughts. The kid had come far in three years and still had plenty of room to grow. He still couldn't tell the minor nuances of a Grimm for shit. Brat didn't even realize he was facing an Ursa Major the whole time. Twelve minutes may have been pretty damn long for a fight against a Grimm, even one that strong. But the kid was right, that fight would have been a breeze had he used his signature weapons and Jiraiya knew for certain that even rookie hunters four years older than the boy would have had trouble against an Ursa Major._

_Naruto had killed it at thirteen with a weapon he had limited knowledge on how to properly use._

_Konoha's Prince was turning into a real powerhouse on the battlefield and he was going to need every little bit of that knowledge and experience for the future. When he took back the life that was stolen from him…_

XxX

It was early in the afternoon on Wednesday. Team RWBY was back at Training Ground forty-two. For the past two weeks Naruto had them break off into pairs and practice working together by pitting them against each other. Usually the training exercise involved an attacking team and a defending team with the defending team having to protect a flag. The matchups were determined by Naruto and the girls were constantly changing partners which helped them better understand how each other worked and thought.

Ruby took to her position as team leader with even greater gusto after her dismal performance on their first training session and had even gone so far as to ask Naruto for copies of the girls' assignments so she could better understand what ideas they had come up with and implement them. Naruto was more than happy to oblige her after he first tested her resolve in what was probably the shortest spar in history. A spar that ended when Ruby came at him and swung her scythe at him with the blade angled to slice. Naruto had simply stopped it with his semblance and declared the spar was over having seen what he needed to.

The assignments he had the girls write proved a critical component in helping them develop their coop skills as he had them exchange their essays with the girl they wrote about. Yang's essay on how she would work with Weiss went to the heiress for review and Weiss' paper on how she would work with Yang went to the blonde for review. The girls had been really interested to see what and how the others thought when it came to working together and needless to say, the possibilities each girl came up with was eye opening. It built a measure of respect between them and soon they were comparing notes and ideas.

The past two weeks showed a definite improvement in Team RWBY's ability to work together and the girls were starting to develop stronger bonds as they learned to better rely on each other's skill. Today though, things were different. The girls went through their routine of fifteen minute spars, but Naruto was hardly paying attention from his spot by the well. The matchup had been Blake and Ruby as the offensive team against Yang and Weiss playing defense.

"Ug, this sucks," Weiss bemoaned. "We have the power, but we just aren't fast enough to keep them away from the flag!"

"No kidding," Yang agreed rolling her shoulders. They always started near the flag, but eventually were pulled away allowing either Blake to get by with aid from her shadow clones or Ruby who simply outpaced them.

"Don't worry, team! All that means is you have to come up with some new combos!" Ruby enthusiastically cheered trying to bolster her friends' mood.

"She's right," Blake added. Turning to Yang she continued. "Using Weiss' glyphs to enhance your speed isn't a bad idea, but your style is a lot more straightforward than Ruby's or mine. So even with the speed boost we can still manage to get around you."

"Whatever. I don't know about you three, but I need a break." Weiss said as she sat down. The other members looked over at the still silent Naruto before following suite. Weiss took a moment to study their commander as she waited for the others to get comfortable. "What's with him? Usually he's always playing the peanut gallery or giving us some suggestions, but now it's like he doesn't even care."

"He does seem to be distracted." Blake commented.

"Yeah, and remember the demonstration yesterday?" Yang asked. "He didn't even stick around after the battle. Just up and left when the barriers went down."

"I hope he's okay…" Ruby quietly spoke with concern.

Weiss sighed in frustration. "Look at him! He probably hasn't even noticed we're just sitting her talking! We could probably just spend the rest of our time here doing nothing! Some commander he is!"

"Come on, Weiss. Don't you think you're being a little hard on him?" Ruby asked. "Remember how upset you were with me when the team was first formed?"

Weiss stiffened at the reminder and quickly hung her head in defeat. "Fine! Maybe I am being a bit…hard on him. He is the one who set up our current training schedule and even I can admit it's a good one. I just wish he would pay attention to us! At the very least, he could try putting some effort in during our team training. This is supposed to be the team's one-on-one time with an experienced Huntsman overseeing us."

"Maybe he's just testing us?" Blake suggested getting curious looks from the girls. "Maybe he wants to see how we'll respond without his direction."

Team RWBY mused over the possibility before Yang punched a fist into her palm. "I've got a way we can find out the difference! Weiss, give me your jacket!"

"What?"

"Just do it."

Weiss grumbled as she slipped her jacket off and handed it to the blonde. "Be careful with that! Its custom tailored and costs more than-"

"Hey, Prince!" Yang yelled ignoring the rest of Weiss' diatribe. "Weiss is feeling kind of hot and was wondering if she could go topless!"

"What!?" The Schnee heiress shrieked.

"Huh? Yeah, sure. Sounds good to me, Yang." Naruto said barely giving them a look before he went back to staring at the ground.

"Excuse me!?" Weiss cried feeling affronted.

"One more second," Yang told her before balling up Weiss jacket and throwing it at Naruto where it bounced off his leg.

Naruto glanced over at the jacket after it hit him before looking up and noticing his team was sitting down staring at him. "Weiss? Why did you take your jacket off? And why are you all sitting down?"

The four girls exchanged glances before getting up and walking over to their commander. Weiss quickly snatched her jacket off the ground and glared at her blonde teammate as she put it back on. Yang just grinned unabashed at her.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Ruby asked him feeling a little worried. She hadn't noticed it before, but now that she was much closer to the blonde she could see he looked a little tired. His hair was frayed, his clothes skewed, and even though his goggles seemed to hide it, she was certain he had heavy bags under his eyes.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," He answered a little too quickly. "Why?"

"You just said it was okay for Weiss to take her top off." Blake mentioned much to the ivory hair girl's embarrassment and annoyance.

"Why wouldn't I?" Naruto asked with a half-hearted grin. He didn't recall saying it, but it wasn't like he would have told her no either.

"I'm standing right here!" Weiss snapped. She was promptly ignored as the others continued to talk.

"Come on, Prince." Yang said getting her fellow blonde to drag his head over to look at her. "There's clearly something bugging ya. So why not just tell us what's up?"

Naruto frowned before pushing off the well. His past had always been taboo and he wasn't about to speak of it with his team. "It's nothing. Besides I think today's session is over."

Ruby pulled out her scroll to check the time. "But we still have another twenty minutes."

"Then use the extra time off to finish your homework or something." He said irritably as he started walking off. Couldn't they take a hint!?

"Now hold it right there!" Weiss shouted getting the blonde to stop and glare over his shoulder at her. "You've been different ever since that Saturday you took us to Vale. I don't know what's bothering you and frankly I wouldn't normally care. But whatever it is, it's starting to affect your performance as our commander! If you can't do your job then find someone who can or at least tell us why!"

Naruto snapped as he rounded on his team and shouted.

XxX

_"It's none of your business!" A fourteen year old Naruto yelled at his mentor._

_"My student, my business." Jiraiya said matching his student's glare._

_"Then we'll have to agree to disagree!" The blonde shouted. "I don't have to explain my reasons for not wanting to return to Konoha with you."_

_"Considering I just spent the last four and a half years training your sorry ass for your return to Konoha, I'd beg to differ, brat!" Jiraiya snapped back having lost his patience._

_Naruto looked stunned at the man. In all the years of his training, his mentor had never once explained why exactly he chose to train him. Usually he would just give a superficial reason like, to get stronger. The blonde glared at the older male. "So that's why you took me in!? That's why I've been busting my ass day in and day out!? This was all just some fucking chess game you've been playing with Danzo!? I thought you were better than that! Now I see, you're no different than him!"_

_Naruto would have continued had it not been for the fist impacting against his face. Jiraiya glared down at him. "I am nothing like him! I've been preparing you for the responsibilities expected of you! You may not want to admit it, but it doesn't change things! You're the Prince of Konoha and its rightful ruler! Every year the relationship between Faunus and Humans grows more and more sour and Konoha is the forerunner when it comes to why! Danzo will guide the Faunus to war and the only way to stave off this eventual conflict is for you to accept your responsibilities!" _

_Naruto wiped the little bit of blood that leaked from his mouth before he got up and attacked Jiraiya. He didn't care about Konoha! Konoha abandoned him so why should he? Jiraiya said war would break out between the Human and the Faunus if he did, but why should that matter? The Faunus were pretty damn quick to forget the teachings of his father and ancestors so clearly they didn't care for peace! Besides, it wasn't like he could just waltz in to Konoha and declare himself King. There would be opposition. For all his talks of staving off one conflict, Jiraiya seemed all for starting another. _

_Teacher and student clashed time and again, meeting blow for blow. They would pause when they were too tired to continue, but during their periods of rest they traded barbs and insults instead to keep their anger stoked. Once they had recovered enough, it was back to blows. The sun would set before they were too exhausted to fight or speak. Wearily they picked themselves up and moved back to camp where they took the sides furthest from one another. Jiraiya set up his sleeping bag while Naruto just propped his head against his hiking pack, passing out._

XxX

_Later that night with the moon high in the sky a quiet rustling was heard. Naruto was up and shouldering his pack before taking a quick glance at his snoring mentor. He glared as he remembered their fight. _

_"I won't go back," He whispered to himself. "If you can't see or accept that, then this is where we part ways."_

_As he walked away a lone tear fell from his eyes. Once more, Konoha had been the cause of his problems. First, it took his dad. Then, it spit on everything his family stood for. Now, it had driven a wedge between him and the one person he thought he could trust._

_From his place back at camp, Jiraiya cracked an eye open and watched his former student leave. He considered going after the brat, but knew it would be futile. Naruto had made the decision to leave and their fight from earlier showed him the blonde's conviction. Even if he did bring him back, he'd just run away at the next available opportunity. Sighing he shut his eyes and prepared himself for a restless night's sleep._

_"Dust dammit, kid."_

XxX

It was Saturday evening. The dinner hour was going strong and the locker rooms were bare save for one blonde hair professor. After blowing up at his squad on Wednesday, Naruto had done his best to limit his time with others as much as possible. Part of him felt bad for yelling at his team and he knew he should apologize, but another part of him blamed them. They shouldn't have pushed him for information he clearly wasn't willing to give. So now he was at war with himself as well as his memories.

Like the week before, he tried pushing himself past the point of caring with training. He worked his body to the bone training nonstop for hours on end before collapsing under his own body weight only to get back up and do it again when he had recovered enough to stand. He only stopped when his arms were too weak to properly throw one of his knives. His condition was worsening and it was clear to everyone now. He dragged his feet when he walked, nodded off whenever he sat for more than five minutes, and his once tan skin was starting to pale.

And the whole time all he could do was ask why. Why was Sasuke in Vale? Why couldn't Jiraiya let sleeping dogs lie? Why was Vale becoming a hotspot for Dust theft? Why was the White Fang working with Torchwick? There were so many questions and they only offered him more questions. Was there a connection between Konoha and the White Fang? What was Danzo trying to achieve? Was Konoha in Vale because they suspected who he was?

Naruto closed the locker and leaned his head against it. The cool metal helped ease his headache. Further thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

XxX

_"Well, you don't look so well." Spoke a gray hair gentleman holding a coffee mug from his place at the end of the row of lockers._

_"You another naysayer? Cause fair warning, the last one to challenge me is still laid up in the hospital." Naruto, now sixteen and sporting a pair of sun goggles said as he looked tiredly at the man. He had just recently acquired his license to be a Huntsman a few months ago and it had been a very trying time to prove he had the skills necessary to many of his new colleagues._

_When he had first entered the Hunters' Office in Vale he had been laughed out. Most pointed him to the nearby Signal Academy. Naruto's response was an eloquent "fuck you". He started hanging outside the office waiting for clients who would walk in with hope and then walk out in despair because their missions were either considered too dangerous or they simply lacked the lien to cover the costs. Those people became Naruto's clients and he charged them less than half the cost it would take to hire a certified Hunter._

_Sheer determination and stubbornness forced the blonde to persevere even in the direst of missions and much to the shock of everyone he met, he succeeded. News soon spread of the young blonde hair warrior who would aid those in need when the Hunters wouldn't and Naruto found his popularity quickly spreading. Soon the Huntsmen and Huntresses also took note, but while some respected his achievements, many were angry because he was practically stealing clients now._

_More than once he had been ordered to cease his actions, but Naruto always ignored them. There had been rumors that the Hunters were considering arresting Naruto on trumped up charges, but by then he had become a bit of a celebrity. A hero to the people. It was through a few pulled strings and careful persuasion from some very powerful people that the idea was dropped and a new one took its place. One that Naruto had been after in the first place. They made him a certified Huntsman. He continued to help those that couldn't afford the aid or came with missions labeled as too dangerous, but now he did them free of charge to avoid pissing off his now-fellow Hunters._

_Despite his accomplishments, there were still many of his "colleagues" who felt his position was undeserved. They simply couldn't accept that a boy less than half their age and who had never gone to a training academy could be in the same league as them. The resentment festered until one Hunter challenged the blonde to a "friendly spar". It didn't take a genius to figure out the man's objective and less than two minutes into the match, Naruto had him on the ground with a minor concussion. That had opened the floodgates and soon after more Hunters were taking their chances against the blonde. The spectacle became like a game for the Hunters and even spawned a betting pool. Eventually the number of contenders trickled down, but he still got one every few weeks or so. Speaking of which, he was due for one and he was curious to see if this new face was his next challenger._

_"Oh not at all," The man said taking a sip from his mug. "I've heard you're currently undefeated. That's quite impressive for one so young. Wouldn't really want to ruin your record."_

_Naruto smirked. "I'm not sure if I should feel flattered or insulted."_

_"Let's just say they cancel each other out and thus keep things neutral." The man responded with a pleasant grin before tucking his cane under his arm and holding his hand out. "My name is Ozpin. Headmaster at Beacon Academy."_

_Naruto took the man's hand and gave him a firm shake. "Naruto Uzumaki."_

_"Not Namikaze?"_

_Naruto stiffened for an instance before reacting. He used his grip on the man to pull him around and slammed him against the lockers before his freehand snatched one of his throwing knives from his belt and held it at Ozpin's neck._

_"I don't know who you think you are or how you know that name, but if you want to live you better start talking."_

_"Quick to anger I see." Ozpin commented with a smile not at all afraid of the knife at his throat. "Rest assured, Mr. Uzumaki I have no interest in your past. I was merely curious about some assumptions I've made."_

_"You expect me to believe that?"_

_Ozpin shrugged. "Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but it would make this conversation much more civil if you did."_

_Naruto debated with himself before putting his knife away. "You're pretty calm for someone who just had his life threatened."_

_"On the contrary," Ozpin calmly disagreed with a hint of amusement. "My assistant and fellow professor has been behind you this whole time ready to intervene."_

_Naruto spun on his feet and turned to come face to face with a platinum blonde woman with wire-rimmed glasses and a stern look. Her arms were crossed under her bust and in one of her hands was a riding crop. _

_"How in the hell did you sneak up on me!?"_

_Naruto rounded on Ozpin when he heard the man chuckle. _

_"Your skills are impressive for one so young, but you could still use some improvement. If Glynda here or even myself were to take you on…well that would certainly give us quite a bit of funding if the betting pool is anything to go by."_

_Naruto just sighed before walking over to one of the benches running parallel with the lockers and took a seat. "So what do you want? I doubt you came here just to see Vale's Youngest Huntsman."_

_"Not entirely." Ozpin responded with a smile. "I'm actually here with a proposal."_

_Naruto gave him a flat stare, "No offense, but you're not my type."_

_"None taken, you're much too angry and violent for me anyway." Ozpin replied disarmingly. His casual acceptance at Naruto's insult threw the young hunter for a loop. Beacon's Headmaster took another sip from his coffee mug causing the blonde to wonder how he hadn't dropped it during their altercation. "As I said before, I'm the headmaster for Beacon Academy. After hearing about you and your exploits, I thought I would come and offer you a place at my prestigious school."_

_Naruto gave the man an "Are you dumb" look. "I'm already a Huntsman. Why would I go to school to learn how to be one?"_

_Ozpin chuckled. "Apologies. I meant I wanted you to come to my school as a teacher not a student. You see many of our teachers are retired Hunters. Either because they've become too old, injured, or just felt it was time to stop slaying monster and prepare the next generation." He paused to take a sip from his mug. "You however are still young and active. You would provide the students with new ideas. I believe they would take more interest in your lectures as well because they can relate to you."_

_Naruto snorted. "And I still think you're an idiot."_

_Glynda frowned at Naruto's blatant disrespect while Ozpin kept up his pleasant grin._

_"Oh?" He asked._

_"Last I heard, the average age for a Beacon first year student is seventeen. That means all the students would be older than me. None of them would take me seriously. Dust! Most of the people here don't even take me seriously. Or at least they didn't until I started kicking their asses."_

_"Hmm…I suppose that's a possibility. But I'm sure you'd think of something that would keep them in line."_

_"I think you're missing the bigger picture," Naruto said as he stood up and started walking away._

_"Oh?"_

_"Yeah, I don't give a shit about your school, your students, or you." Naruto said as he turned the corner._

_"Hmm, he really is an angry and violent young man. Wouldn't you say?" Ozpin muttered._

_"If you ask me, he doesn't seem like he'd be a good teacher anyway. He's disrespectful, crass, and inexperienced." Glynda commented._

_"I'd call it being defensive and jaded, myself." Ozpin said disagreeing with his longtime friend. "He doesn't trust others, but in the same breath, he can't ignore those in need either."_

_"Is that why he so freely takes missions that most consider suicidal?"_

_Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he contemplated her question. "Possibly, but I suspect there is more to it than that."_

_"And that would be?"_

_"He feels he has nothing to live for." He answered solemnly. "With nothing to live for, why wouldn't he make use of his skills to help those that no one else will?"_

_"And if it kills him in the process?" Glynda asked._

_Ozpin's demeanor shifted to a grimmer outlook. "Then I suspect, young Naruto would just see that as a bonus…"_

XxX

It was the Tuesday of week three since Naruto fell into his slump and he was now teaching his survival class. Though calling it teaching was a bit of a stretch as all he had done since the start of class was tell everyone to open the book and begin reading from the twelfth chapter. This was most definitely a change from the norm, as Naruto preferred a more practical approach to his lessons and always actively engaged his class. It appeared as though exhaustion had finally taken its toll on the young Hunter. His skin was pale, his hair had lost its sheen, and he couldn't even throw one of his knives accurately!

Around the room, some of the teams had their own concerns. Team RWBY were a mix mash of concern and disappointment. They wanted their old, fun loving teacher back. They hated this husk of a man that used to tease them and yet provide them with any aid they may need. Team JNPR was also concerned, but that was more so for Team RWBY than Naruto. Thanks to the friendship between Ruby and Jaune, Teams RWBY and JNPR had grown closer. The fact that their dorm rooms were right across from one another certainly didn't hurt. Thus, it was only a matter of time before the funk from Naruto started to transfer to his subordinates and in turn Team JNPR. Other teams like CRDL could have cared less. Naruto's recently sloppy approach to teaching had left more time for them to goof off without fear of repercussion.

The bell rang signaling the end of class, shocking Naruto out of his drowsy state. He shook his head a few times to clear the cobwebs and quickly addressed the class before they could make it to the door. "I expect a two page essay on the contents of chapter twelve. If you didn't read it during class, tough shit you had your chance."

That certainly got a large series of groans from a good majority of the class. After everyone had vacated the classroom, Naruto slumped into his chair and pulled his goggles up long enough to try and rub the sleep out of his eyes. He lowered his goggles once more before leaning forward and letting his forehead hit his desk more than a little roughly, only idly aware of the footsteps entering his classroom.

XxX

_"You're not looking very well." Ozpin commented after witnessing Naruto head-butt his locker before leaning up against it. _

_"I'm trying to wake myself up from the nightmare that was my last mission." Naruto, now seventeen grumbled. _

_After their first meeting oh so long ago, Ozpin had made it an effort to approach Remnant's youngest Hunter at least once after every mission. At first it had been an annoyance of the highest order. But with time all things chance and eventually Naruto learned to tolerate Ozpin's persistence at getting him to become a teacher and on occasion appreciate the advice the man had to give. These days, the Headmaster only ever mentioned his offer to the blonde as little more than a reminder that it was still on the table. _

_"Really?" Ozpin asked sipping away at his mug. His tone indicating nothing but simple curiosity. "I heard it was a success."_

_Naruto shoved his body away from the lockers and turned to glare at his senior. "You call two dead Hunters and one Hunter turned traitor a success!?" The blonde turned and punched his locker hard enough to dent the metal. "It was supposed to be a simple mission. One Grimm nest, three entrances. All we had to do was place charges at the entrance and detonate them simultaneously! But all it took was one, ONE racist prick to cost Remnant three experienced Hunters!"_

_"And yet, even with that adversity, you managed to seal all three entrances." Ozpin reminded him calmly._

_"That's just it!" Naruto raged. "It's a sealed Grimm nest! It's still chock full of the bastards, which still makes it a threat! At this rate, we may as well giftwrap the fucking planet for those monsters, because we sure as hell don't seem to be doing any good with it!"_

_"If you're not satisfied, then why haven't you quit?"_

_"Because this is the only place where I can help people!"_

_Ozpin took a sip from his mug before asking. "Is it?"_

_"Oh Dust, Ozzy. I'm not in the mood for another one of your recruitment speeches." Naruto groaned._

_"Be that as it may," Ozpin started before setting his mug down on the bench before giving the blonde a hard stare. "What is it that you fight for, Naruto?"_

_"What kind of question is that!?" The blonde groused. "I'm a Huntsman! I fight to keep people safe!"_

_"Do you?" The Headmaster accused. "Or do you fight for yourself?"_

_Naruto was taken aback by the man's accusation. _

_"I have come to you after every mission. A majority of them were marked as suicide runs."_

_"…Someone has to do them." _

_"That _someone_ doesn't have to be you! You, Naruto Uzumaki charge headlong into danger at every chance you get. Don't stand there and tell me you do it all out of the kindness of your heart!" Ozpin responded heatedly. Naruto was about to protest, but he wasn't finished speaking. "I know that on some level you feel you are doing some good, but can you look me in the eye and tell me that's the only reason you've been taking the hardest missions available?"_

_Naruto's silence was all the answer he needed._

_"You have more experience and a better mission record than Hunter's more than twice your age. Put that knowledge to use and come to my school. You may find something there that you can't find as an active Hunter."_

_Naruto gave him a curious look. "And what would that be?"_

_"Purpose. Something you can look forward to, more than just the next fight."_

_The young Hunter contemplated his words. "And you really think I'll find that at Beacon?"_

_Ozpin shrugged. "Who can say? However, on the off-chance I'm wrong, you can always leave." The Headmaster paused as a thought occurred to him. "But only after the school year comes to a close. Glynda would skin me alive if I hired a teacher who quit halfway through."_

_Naruto hesitated as he considered his options. Ozpin's accusations were spot on and the blonde knew it. Ever since he had left Jiraiya, he had wandered aimlessly. He had lost his family, his friends, his home, and his mentor. All he had were the skills he had developed while travelling with Jiraiya and honed on his own travels. For him, hunting Grimm had little to do with honor, fame, or reason. It was simply a job he just happened to have the skillset for. It was an escape, a way to do some good and if he died, at least it was doing something worthwhile. _

_"…If I do this…just what more could I do there than here?"_

_Ozpin had long since recovered his mug of coffee and answered after taking a sip. "You've seen how Hunters operate, you know the types of missions expected of Hunters, and I'm sure you have plenty of criticism for how both are handled," Naruto nodded in agreement, prompting Ozpin to smile. "What better place to address those concerns than at the root of every Hunters' foundation. If you can change the opinions of the students, then you can pave the way for future generations of Hunters. Maybe then you can prevent someone else's mission from turning into your latest."_

_The young Hunter took that under consideration and soon after smiled. Maybe there was a way to uphold his family's values. To show the world, Konoha's true vision without having to do it from some throne room tucked away in a village devoid of human contact. Perhaps the secret to improving Human and Faunus relations wasn't through preaching and diplomacy, nor through demands and violence. Perhaps the answer was far more simple, leading by example._

_Naruto smirked at the grey hair Headmaster. "Alright, I'll give it a shot. Fair warning, I have a lot of conditions if I'm going to sign up."_

_Ozpin chuckled. "No doubt. There is still a couple months left before the new school year, but perhaps we can continue negotiations some place a little nicer smelling?"_

_Naruto gave him an odd look before turning to sniff his armpit before pulling away with a look of disgust. "Yeah…just give me ten minutes to get cleaned up."_

XxX

Naruto smiled brightly as he woke up Wednesday morning after his talk with Ozzy yesterday. It seemed, his mood had finally been too much and the senior Huntsman decided to intervene. The two had spent hours talking about Konoha, Sasuke, and the possibilities of why they were in Vale. Ozzy had also more or less thrust the fact that as a teacher his problems don't just affect him. As punishment for not living up to the expectations of being a teacher, Naruto had to spend three days working with Glynda. One for each week he wasted moping.

Naruto personally thought Ozpin was being a heartless bastard, but grudgingly accepted nonetheless.

However, that was neither here nor there! It was team training day and the Prince of Beacon hadn't pranked anyone in a while. Who better to start with?

XxX

"Oh! This is so exciting!" Ruby exclaimed as the team walked to Naruto's personal training field.

"Exactly how is this "exciting"? We've been doing this for almost a month now." Weiss grumbled.

Ruby was waving her arms wildly at the snow hair girl. "How can you not be excited!? Naruto contacted us! That means he's gonna train us!"

"Hmph," Weiss said turning her nose up. "You mean like how he's been training us the past couple weeks?"

Ruby looked a little downtrodden at the reminder, but found her spirits quickly lifted by Blake. "I don't know. His instructions were pretty specific. I think Ruby may be right."

The four girls stopped to look down at their clothes. For whatever reason, Naruto ordered them to dress in dark grey sweatpants with white shirts. They were also told to leave their weapons behind as they wouldn't be needing them for today's lesson.

"Meh, we're probably just doing something that would ruin our clothes." Yang chimed in as they neared the training ground.

"I guess," Weiss muttered. "Still, why do we have to wear something so bland?"

"Why I'm so glad you asked, Weiss!" A familiar voice happily called out. The four girls looked to see Naruto standing in the center of the field surrounded by large plastic tubs filled with…

"Are those water balloons?" Blake questioned her bow twitching in agitation.

The blonde teacher looked down at the tubs before looking back at the girls with a grin that made all four of them shiver. "Indeed they are, Blake! Today's exercise is meant to teach you four a very important lesson…"

Naruto bent over one of the tubs.

"…How…"

He scooped up a water balloon in one hand.

"…to…"

He scooped up another water balloon in the other hand.

"…DODGE!" He roared before throwing the balloons at the girls. Team RWBY shrieked and quickly started dodging this way and that to avoid the many water balloons intent on turning their shirts see-through.

"You pervert!" Weiss raged. "I'm not sticking around for this! I say we just go back to the dorms!"

Weiss' declaration rallied the other four girls and was quickly quelled when four water balloons struck the chest of each girl. Team RWBY glared at their smirking commander.

"By all means, feel free. I'm sure the male half of the student population would fully endorse that idea."

"It's not like they weren't going to get a free show anyway!" Yang yelled. She was all for being flirty, but even she had some lines she wouldn't cross. Flashing underwear being one of them. "It's not like you brought a spare…a spare…oh you son of a bitch!"

Naruto, still with the ever present smirk on his face held up four black hoodies.

"So, what will it be?" He casually asked waving the hoodies at them with one hand and tossing up a water balloon in the other. "Run and give Beacon a free show or stay and try to last long enough to get the hoodies."

Naruto could almost taste his teams' intent to kill him for this.

"Glad to see we've reached an understanding." He chuckled. "Only one rule girls, you come within five feet of these tubs and I chuck the hoodies down the well. Deal?"

"Ruby?" Yang asked as she noticed her little sister shaking.

The young team leader struck a dramatic pose before pointing at her commander. "Alright girls listen up! Operation: Kick Naruto's Butt! is now in session! Our enemy is swift! Fierce! And a class A pervert! We must avoid his balloons of "Evil Pervert Fun Times!" for as long as it takes him to run out! Afterwards…we kick his ass and take the hoodies!"

"YEAH!" The other three cheered to angry at their commander to realize that Ruby swore.

Naruto just cackled madly.

XxX

Ozpin sat at his desk overlooking one of the missions sent to Beacon for training purposes. For all intents and purposes, it was a mission that had no place in Beacon. However, a few greased palms seemed to ensure it made its way to them or more precisely him. In most cases, Ozpin would have trashed the mission. He didn't like corruption in the least and took great pride in keeping its influence out of his school. That being said, it was the nature of the mission that stayed his hand.

It was a request from the Schnee Dust Corporation asking for Ms. Schnee's team to assist in a private matter related to business operations. Thus, it was a personal matter for the young heiress and one he wasn't so willing to toss aside simply due to the means in which the mission found its way to his office. There was also the matter of her commander to consider.

It seemed his young protégé was finally moving on from the undoubtedly startling revelation that his past had come back to haunt him. That certainly eased Ozpin's concerns with how to handle the mission. He didn't mind presenting it to Team RWBY to let them make the choice on what to do. But he was in no way going to allow them to go if Naruto wasn't focused. Something about the mission unnerved him. It was too vague, citing the protection of company secrets, and that the team would be briefed upon arriving at the facility.

It had been why Ozpin had addressed Naruto about his performance. He hadn't lost any faith in the blonde's capabilities. Despite being a Huntsman, Naruto was still very much a young man and was prone to being shortsighted. It wasn't often, but on occasion the blonde had a knack for turning small problems into big ones.

Konoha's presence in Vale being a prime example. There wasn't anything to suggest that Konoha was aware of Naruto's existence and yet the poor boy had fretted over it anyway and in the process of trying to protect the life he had made for himself, he forgot to stop and take the time to actually enjoy it. No matter, the issue seemed to be resolved and soon enough Ozpin's office would be flooded with complaints from students and staff alike as Naruto amused himself at their expense.

Ozpin moved the mission scroll off to the side of his desk. He'd present it to Naruto after class tomorrow.

(End of Chapter 4)

(Omake 1: A Bust for a Bust)

Naruto whistled merrily as he marched his way back to his office. It was Wednesday evening and despite Team RWBY's valiant efforts, Operation: Kick Naruto's Butt! ended in failure. Not their fault of course. Very few forces on the planet could overshadow his awesomeness.

He was just about to enter his office when his scroll went off. Pulling it out of his coat pocket, he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Too far!" A deep masculine voice raged on the other end.

"Pete?"

"You have gone too far with your pranks this time, Uzumaki!" Peter pompously ranted. The blonde found this odd. Pete had never had a problem with his pranks in the past.

Naruto unlocked his office and entered. He hung his coat up by the door and moved over to his desk. "Oh come on, it wasn't _that_ bad."

"You defaced a priceless bust of my grandfather!"

That got Naruto's attention. "Wait…you mean that statue in your classroom isn't you?"

"Why would I have a bust of myself!?"

Naruto felt his answer of "Because you can't go one class without talking about yourself" wouldn't suffice.

"Oh relax, Pete. I'm sure it will wash off-" The blonde started.

"I scrubbed it thoroughly three times!"

"…eventually." He finished. Shit, did he forget to use watercolors? "Besides, you can't be too upset. You had this coming."

"What could I have possibly done to earn this!?" Peter yelled.

"You hit on my student!" Naruto yelled back.

"When!?"

"On their first day in your class!"

"That was weeks ago!"

"I was busy!"

Silence reigned before Professor Port spoke again. His voice oddly calm. "Foul."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I call foul! You took too long to retaliate! Therefore you are in violation of the Laws of Pranking."

"Oh that's bullshit!" Naruto shouted. "You only know those rules because I told them to you!"

"And now you will honor your code as a prankster and face retribution!"

The blonde sulked. "Fine, send me the stupid statue."

As was the law amongst pranksters. If you took too long to seek retribution and were found guilty, then you were responsible for fixing your mess. Should you be unable to, you would be required to reimburse the damaged party for your deeds. Naruto sighed in light of his newest punishment. First he has to spend three days working with Glynda and now this…

Oh well, at least he got to see Team RWBY with soaking see-through t-shirts. Hard to beat that.

(End of A Bust for a Bust)

XxX

(Omake 2: "Girl Talk")

Yang entered Foxfire and made her way up to the manager's office after flashing her V.I.P. Gold Card at the door to the club. Kuma seemed to remember her and greeted her politely before letting her in much to the annoyance of those still waiting in line.

It was the second weekend after Naruto had brought the team to meet Tamamo and the young Huntress-in-training hoped the fox Faunus' good mood from the week before carried over. Truth be told, Yang was more than a little nervous. After all, she did knock the block off of some jackass bartender the last time she was in the club.

As Yang finished climbing the stares, she locked eyes with Kuro, who was sitting behind her desk. "Hey, Kuro! Is the boss lady in?"

"Greetings, Miss Xiao Long." Kuro responded blankly before picking up the phone at her desk and calling her Mistress' office. "Mistress? Miss Xiao Long is here to see you…Naruto's student…" Yang noticed the slightly annoyed look develop on Kuro's face. "…The blonde who destroyed Junior's club…"

Yang sweated a bit in disbelief. Had she really been forgotten so soon?

"…Yes, the one who gave Jacob a concussion and knocked out seven of his teeth."

Now Yang was _really_ sweating.

Kuro hung up her phone before addressing the blonde. If she noticed how nervous Yang was, she didn't mention it. "Mistress will see you now."

"Eh heh…actually…" Yang started. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"If you don't go in now, Mistress will assume you're wasting her time." The cat Faunus calmly explained. "Should that come to pass, whatever fears you currently harbor will certainly come true."

Yang grumbled before marching towards the office door. She entered the room to see it was still as red as the last time she had been in. At least she didn't have to go looking for the room's sole occupant as Tamamo was sitting at her desk going through some paperwork.

"Sit." The redhead ordered. Yang quickly complied. A minute passed, then two. Finally, after five minutes of waiting, Tamamo set her paperwork aside and addressed Yang. "So what can I do for you?"

Yang was certainly surprised. "Really!? Just straight to business?"

Tamamo arched a perfectly kept eyebrow at the younger woman. "Did you expect pleasantries? Because if this is a social visit, you'll find my patience quickly disappearing."

"No, no!" The blonde quickly reassured before mumbling. "I just thought you would have something to say about the guy I punched."

One of Tamamo's fox ears twitched as she picked up the girl's quiet words. "Jacob was a slimeball. Why should I care that you rearranged his face?"

"…Because he's your employee?"

The club owner gave a bark of a laugh. "One very well known, unspoken rule for Foxfire is that everyone is responsible for themselves. Whether they be customers or staff, when you step foot in Foxfire your actions are your own, as are the choices that you make. Should someone take offense to what you do and say, it is between you and them to resolve it. Just keep the damage to my club at a minimum and I could care less."

"That doesn't seem like a wise business plan." Yang speculated.

Tamamo smirked at her. "Normally you're right, but fear and power make many things possible that otherwise wouldn't be. I just happen to know how to wield both with great efficiency."

"Yeah…Weiss is still pretty pissed with what happened when we were last here."

The red head just rolled her eyes. Drawling she replied. "The Schnee family has always had a reputation for being up their own ass. Regardless, we've gotten off-topic. You wished to discuss business?"

"Actually, it's Naruto she's mostly upset with and truth be told, it's one of the reasons I came."

Tamamo frowned before sighing, "Somehow I feel the information you seek holds little market value."

"I can pay, if that helps."

"Free piece of advice," Tamamo said giving the girl a condescending look. "Never make an open offer to a person in power. Especially when money is involved. You never know when we may accept."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"It can lead to you being in their debt for the rest of your life. Now, you say the Schnee girl is upset with Naruto because of me? Just how did she come to that conclusion?"

Yang frown as she remembered some of the things Weiss had said. "Well, what it boils down to is how she feels Naruto just stood back and let you have free reign to do as you please with us."

"If that's what she believes, then she is a bigger fool than I first thought."

"Huh?"

Tamamo leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms under her sizeable bust. "Contrary to what she, or any of you girls for that matter believe, I did not have free reign to do as I please. Naruto and I have a very complex relationship and let each other get away with more than we would allow anyone else. And it has nothing to do with sex."

Yang wasn't even planning on suggesting that.

"Both of us know how far we can push the other before one of us snaps," She continued. "If the Schnee girl thinks a few paltry threats and a minor physical altercation counts as free reign, then she's delusional. I've flayed people alive for lesser reasons than approaching me with an uppity attitude. If anything, she should be thankful to Naruto."

"Why?"

"Many people have tried to stand up to me in the past despite my reputation, few actually try to fight me, and there are even fewer people than I have fingers on one hand that are capable of making me obey."

"…And Naruto's one of those few?"

"Not at all," Tamamo answered. "He's only strong enough to make me listen. Power wise, he is just marginally weaker than me. However, the fool as a tenacity that makes putting him down a right chore."

Yang was listening with rapt attention. It wasn't often someone provided insight into the history of Team RWBY's commander.

"Naruto and I have fought full out only once. It ended in a double knockout, me requiring a new building for my operations," The vixen explained gesturing around her office. "And Vale needing to repair at least three and a half blocks that I paid for if only to shut up the politicians." Yang remembered hearing about something like that while she had been at Signal. "He actually would most likely be dead had I not kept underestimating him, but that's a story for another time. Have I sufficiently answered your questions?"

Yang nodded, "Yeah, just got one more."

"Very well."

"What did you and Naruto talk about when we were last here? He hasn't been the same ever since that day."

Tamamo stared at the girl for a minute before speaking. "I stand corrected. There is something you wish to know that is worth a lot of lien to the right people." Before Yang could comment, the club owner continued. "Sadly, that information is not for sale."

"Why not? I thought information was your business."

The red hair woman glared at the blonde causing her to cower. "Information _is_ my business! However, the information you seek is worth more lien than you or any of your teammates are worth. Including the Schnee girl. Some secrets are too valuable to share, girl. Remember that."

"What kind of secrets could be so valuable that an information broker won't sell them?" Yang asked curiously.

"Why, the kind that can change the face of Remnant, of course."

(End of "Girl Talk")

(Omake 3: The Queen of the World)

Tamamo watched the young blonde girl leave her office. Despite being a waste of her time, she hadn't minded the girl's presence. Yang reminded her a lot of herself when she was younger. True the girl was considerably more enthusiastic and optimistic, but the necessary bits were there. The love for combat and the inquisitive nature that won't let things be. Yes, Tamamo was aware of the girl's quest revolving around her family. Not that she would say anything about it. That was information that would hold some value to the blonde, but it would require resources the girl couldn't afford.

True, if Naruto got wind of this, he'd cover the costs. But Tamamo suspected this was a personal matter for Miss Xiao Long and that she wouldn't appreciate the assistance without having asked for it first.

The fox Faunus quickly picked up the paperwork she had been going over when Yang had entered and started sorting it. While the blonde's question had mostly been pointless, her last question gave her something to ponder.

Secrets that could change the face of Remnant. Oh the number of secrets she held that could achieve that very result. If she wanted, she could achieve world peace with the ousting of a few politicians, the promotion of others, and three key bits of information she could hold over the biggest threats to that particular scenario. She wouldn't do it, of course. World peace was boring and offered little profit.

That being said, Tamamo wasn't a fan of war either. Though considerably easier to start, wars killed people, dead people meant outdated information, and should one side prove victorious over the other, then a lot of the secrets she gathered would become irrelevant.

That was why information that could change the face of Remnant were too valuable to share. They could render who knows how much data useless. Time was money and money was time. Should one of the secrets she deemed "too valuable" become public knowledge, she would have wasted both time and money. That had been the secret to her success. Knowing what to sell, when to sell it, and whom to sell it to.

Yes, with the information she held, Tamamo could rule the world.

…

Not that she ever would.

…

The paperwork she already dealt with on a day-to-day basis was enough trouble as is. No, best to stick to the shadows and control everyone else to do her work for her like the pawns they unknowingly were.

(End of The Queen of the World)

A/N: Okay, holy shit was this a long time coming. Special thanks to Dreadman75 for his work betaing this chapter and for his work on the OC Grimm bio at the end of this author's note. Also, sorry for the delay folks. Won't waste your time with excuses, enough writers' do that as it is. Anyway, here we are! Chapter 4. For all those living in fear that my lazy ass will take another god awful break before writing the next chapter, relax. Even if that were possible, it isn't going to happen. Next chapter is the one I've been wanting to write since I first started this story. So yeah, you can bet I'll be working on that soon. That being said, there will be a bit of a delay for the next chapter as, like Chapter 3 it will be coming in two parts and for those who read my notes, I like having both parts written before I post them. Makes it easier to not fuck up continuity.

A few things to mention, since it's been a while. Naruto's weapon has been renamed as I have revised it over the break. The new name is Mort and Minnie and I have made the change in chapter 3 to reflect this. Speaking of which, we will finally get to see them next chapter. Ode to joy and all that.

In regards to the omakes. The first one is a reference to chapter 2. The second omake was written for the readers who were upset with the interaction between Tamamo and Team RWBY, hopefully it cleared up some things. The final piece is more or less meant to help flesh out Tamamo's character some more.

Also, the secret behind Naruto's fairytale allusion has been solved by two reviewers, roanoak and correnhimself316. Both figured out from the clues that Naruto is based off the Frog Prince (or in this case, Toad Prince). I always intended to list off the clues after someone figured it out so here they are…

In chapter one, Naruto mentions he has really good night vision despite wearing sun goggles in the dark. This is a hint that he is a Faunus. Another instance in chapter one comes from Tamamo referring to him as "Little Prince". As Tamamo is introduced as an information broker, this comment refers to a secret of Naruto's that she is privy to.

In chapter two, Yang refers to Naruto as a Prince Charming. While some people have used the title in their guesses, I never counted them as it was too vague. Many fairytales have a Prince Charming including the Frog Prince. We also see Jiraiya and his toad eyes covered by glasses. As many have guessed this related to Naruto as well. Finally, there was Naruto's pen name, Gama Bakatchu. As many probably know Gama is toad in Japanese.

Chapter 3.1 probably introduces the most blatant hint of them all with the well that happens to inhabit Naruto's personal training field. In the story of the Frog Prince, the princess finds the toad by/around/at the bottom of a well. Which coincidently enough (or not, I did write it that way after all), Naruto just happens to be leaning against the well when the girls first see him.

Lastly, in 3.2 we learn that Danzo is in control of Konoha and that Naruto doesn't want to go back. This is another tie-in to the fairytale. In the story for varying reasons, the Frog Prince cannot return to his kingdom. Either for personal reasons or because there is something in his kingdom keeping him away.

So there you have it, all the evidence that relates Naruto to his fairytale allusion. On a final note, before I leave you with the biography on the Quetz-Coatals. Apologies to anyone who wanted to see more action between them and Naruto, but they were always slated for cannon fodder. The next two updates will be pretty action heavy so just be patient. That aside, brought to you by Dreadman75, the Quetz-Coatal biography!

**"Quetz-Coatals: Vacuo's Scaly Nuisance"**

Quetz-Coatals, often called "winged serpents", are Grimm that are most commonly found on Vacuo's southern peninsula.

One of many species of "Juvenile Grimm" a Quetz-Coatal's maximum length is frequently between eight to twelve feet, with a body between eight and ten inches in diameter at its thickest point. A Quetz-Coatal's most distinguishing trait are three pairs of wings, each pair located at different points along its body. The main pair of wings, which often have a wingspan of ten to fourteen feet, are located near the center of the body while the smaller wings, typically no more than one and a half to two feet in wingspan, are located on the base of the skull and close to the tail.

Though Quetz-Coatals possess wings, true flight is beyond their reach. Despite their size, their main wings lack the strength for sustained flight. Instead the Quetz-Coatal uses its wings in order to glide as a part of its hunting pattern. This Grimm hunts by first coiling it's body tightly, and then using it's impressive musculature to "leap" high into the air at which point the large wings unfurl and keep them aloft, with their smaller wings used for tight turning, allowing them enough time to lock onto their targets and dive towards them at incredible speeds, killing its prey before it can react.

This particular hunting pattern has evolved over the years to suit the Quetz-Coatals habitat. Vacuo's southern peninsula is a sparsely wooded plain filled with tall grasses, making it an ideal location for these creatures to hide, and hunt.

A Quetz-Coatal's primary method of killing is its potent venom, usually administered through its first bite. Although, perhaps the most deadly aspect about these Grimm is their ability to hunt in packs. Pack sizes for Quetz-Coatal are small, ranging from three to seven. However, the lesser numbers than is common amongst most pack-type Grimm haven't hindered the beasts. Instead it has forced them to hunt in a smarter manner than most Grimm.

The key weakness of a Quetz-Coatal, besides its inherent fragility as a Juvenile Grimm, is its tendency to repeat its attack patterns endlessly, never learning from its failures. This behavior is indicative of its nature of a pack hunter, one continually attacks from the front, keeping its prey's attention focused while its pack mates attack from behind or above. This makes it simple to deal with a lone Quetz-Coatal as all it takes is to keep eyes on it at all times. When faced with the whole pack it becomes imperative to be completely aware of your surroundings. Thus it is recommended to hunt these Grimm in teams of two or more, in order to minimize blind spots.


	6. The Prince and the Heiress

(Chapter 5: The Prince and the Heiress)

It was an early morning on Thursday as Jaune made his way through the training fields. The sun had yet to rise and the young Huntsman-in-training was dragging his feet. He'd been up all night doing the homework for Team CRNL, much as he wished otherwise. However, despite his protests, Cardin and his friends seemed to have singled him out. So here he was, wandering the training fields after a night of doing five assignments and making certain that no two looked the same, less the teachers figure out what's going on. Truth be told, he'd rather be sleeping. He knew he could probably get at least an hour in, but he didn't want to risk waking up his team. He didn't want to be a burden…

"Huh?" He questioned as he noticed a pulsing orange glow coming from a nearby training field. He crept closer to the field, mindful of staying hidden.

What could it be? Jaune _really_ hoped it wasn't some student trying to summon an Elder Grimm from ancient times. That would suck. And certainly be within the realms of his luck.

He peeled back a few of the branches and was surprised by what he found. "Whoa…"

There in the middle of the field sat Professor Uzumaki in a meditative pose. All around him, extending in a five foot radius were orange hued…stars? They certainly shined like the ones in the sky. Little lights that glowed brightly and pulsed in sync at regular intervals. Jaune watched as the pulses came quicker as a spot two and a half feet away from Professor Uzumaki's left started to spark viciously. The stars around the blonde stopped pulsing and started to grow brighter and brighter before quickly dimming to almost nonexistence. Soon the training field was bathed in a soft orange light once more. The sparking, which had stopped during the stars little light show, began once more.

Jaune watched fascinated as the pulses started picking up again, but before they could reach their fevered pace from before a blinding light erupted from the sparks causing him to look away from the spectacle. As the light died down, Jaune looked back to see a new star had formed and now pulsed alongside its peers. The young professor took a deep breath. As he inhaled the stars brightened and upon exhaling, they extinguished.

"You can come out now," He called out.

Jaune glanced around the field. Surely he couldn't mean…

"Oi! Idiot in the bushes! I can sense your aura from here!" His professor shouted in annoyance.

Jaune couldn't leap out of the bushes fast enough. Professor Goodwitch had certainly done a good job teaching him that, _that_ tone was to be heeded at all costs.

Naruto frowned as he arched an eyebrow at his audience. He hadn't had the chance to really interact with Jaune outside of class. He had wanted the chance to speak with him, but things hadn't gone quite as planned.

"Well, Jaune. I'm certainly surprised to see you up this early."

Jaune bowed his head and started to apologize. "I'm sorry. I swear I didn't meant to interrupt," he paused, trying to think of the proper way to describe what he saw before giving up. "…Whatever it was you were doing, Professor Uz-"

"Naruto," Said blonde interrupted getting a confused look from the student. "Outside of class, it's Naruto and what you interrupted was a training exercise I learned from a drunk old hag to help me better control my semblance." Jaune wasn't sure what to say to that and opted to remain silent. "So, are you out here for a little early morning training of your own?"

The Huntsman-in-training jumped at the excuse. It was certainly better than admitting the truth. "Yep! That's me! Just this…Youthful Huntsman with a Flaming Passion! If I don't train to get rid of this aggression…why…I might become as scary as the Grimm I fight!"

Naruto stared dumbly at him.

"Uh huh…" He said with a slow nod. "Well Mr. "Scary Grimm" that's all well and good. But if you use the words "flaming" or "youthful" in the same sentence ever again, I will show you why the Grimm run and hide at the mere sight of me."

The younger blonde audibly gulped. "Duly noted."

"Now pop a squat," Naruto said patting the ground near him. "I wanted to talk to you at the start of the semester, but got sidetracked."

Jaune hesitantly sat down, "…What's there to talk about?"

"Can't I simply show concern for how one of my students is fitting in?"

"Um…all the concerns you have for our education…seem to, uh…be come complete with a throwing knife…Sir."

Naruto sulked. "I'm not that bad…"

Jaune's considered responding with "Yes, you are" but quickly smothered the urge. He didn't really want to give his professor the chance to prove himself wrong. It certainly had nothing to do with his own wants of avoiding being used for target practice.

"So, how's life as the leader of Team JNPR?" Naruto merrily asked. His mood having done a complete turnaround with the change of topic.

"Huh? Um…not much different from usual, I guess?" Jaune answered tentatively. They hadn't really done much as a team. Dejectedly he added. "Professor Goodwitch seems to feel I should try to get to the same level as the rest of my team before she considers furthering our training..."

"That woman can be such a Mother Hen." Naruto grumbled. He couldn't really fault her approach though. Jaune was severely underprepared for the trials Beacon would soon start throwing at its students. Not to say his situation was completely hopeless. There was still plenty of time for him to catch up, but it would be up to Jaune whether or not that ever happened. Shame the boy would have to figure that out for himself. You couldn't hand someone an excuse to better themselves. They had to figure that out for themselves. Still, that didn't mean Naruto couldn't give the kid a blatantly obvious hint.

"Huh…guess you really were here to train," the blonde teacher feigned ignorance. "But why train so early? You should have plenty time in the afternoon."

"I'm usually doing homework in the afternoon." Jaune dismally answered.

"There shouldn't be _that_ much homework."

"There is when you're doing it for five people…" He muttered under his breath. However, Naruto heard him and smirked inwardly. That was what he had wanted to hear.

"Hmm…so you're the one helping Team CRNL cheat," the Prince of Beacon murmured.

"Huh, what!?" Jaune cried out surprised. "Cheating? Pfft, no. Why would I-"

"Jaune, you suck at lying."

The younger blonde hung his head in defeat. All those weeks of trying to hide the truth and one of his teachers was already aware of the cheating. And like the genius Jaune was, he just had to announce to said teacher that he was the one helping others cheat. "I'm expelled, aren't I?"

Naruto gave him a curious glance before shaking his head. "Nope."

That certainly surprised Jaune. "B-but I'm a cheater! Isn't that a pretty bad offense?"

"Correction," Naruto said holding up his index finger. "You're a patsy. As far as punishments are concerned. I think you're doing a fairly good job of punishing yourself by obeying Team CRNL."

"So what happens now?"

"Nothing," Naruto answered with another shake of his head. "This is a combat school, Jaune. You're expected to handle your own problems. The teachers are only expected to intervene if we feel the situation has gotten out of hand."

"So that's it!? Just business as usual!?" Jaune wasn't one for anger, but hearing about Beacon's rather laissez faire approach to the situation really irked him. "Team CRNL just gets away scot-free as long as I continue to do their work for them!?"

An evil smile appeared on Naruto's face. "Now whoever said anything about letting Team CRNL get away with their lazy approach towards their schoolwork?"

Jaune looked up at him confused. "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say halfway into the semester, team CRNL will have their wonderful little security blanket, ripped away from them, torn to pieces, and then lit on fire."

That just confused him more. Naruto rolled his eyes behind his goggles. "The staff has been aware of Team CRNL's cheating for some time. We've decided to let it continue while marking all their assignments as zeroes. Within the next couple weeks or so, we'll reveal to them how we were aware from the get go. We'll then present them with an option…" Naruto's evil smile returned. "Either redo every assignment they failed to do themselves or drop out of Beacon entirely."

"If you and the other teachers already know, then why let it continue on at all?"

"I already answered that," Naruto said with a hint of annoyance. "We're a combat school, not a daycare. If you can't take care of yourself in a classroom environment, you'll be fucked on the field." He said standing up. "Either way, Jaune, the fact is it's up to you whether or not you stop being Team CRNL's bitch. Whether you do or don't won't change the fact that the staff will be speaking with team CRNL within three weeks' time."

Jaune watched his professor leave the field. He wasn't sure what he should do. He wanted to tell team CRNL or more specifically, Cardin Winchester just where to shove his homework, but Cardin was really big and would just kick his ass. Then a thought occurred to Jaune.

"_Whether you do or don't won't change the fact that the staff will be speaking with team CRNL within three weeks' time."_

Jaune soon found a smile that eerily similar to Naruto's gracing his face. He would go ahead and continue to do the extra assignments for Team CRNL. Why? Because he was already used to doing five people's work. But the real kicker was the fact that for every one assignment Jaune did that would be one more assignment Team CRNL would have to scramble to finish in order to avoid dropping out.

Jaune stood up with a smile. Perhaps coming to Beacon wasn't too bad after all. All he needed to do was be a little more patient.

XxX

Weiss stood alone in Team RWBY's bathroom doing what the rest of the team called her "Thirty Minutes of Princess Pampering". She just called it "Weiss time". There seemed to be so very few opportunities for someone to just sit back and enjoy some time alone. Sure there were plenty of places where one could find some form of quiet. But true isolation? Freedom from the agonizing frustrations that came from dealing with the uncivilized, unprofessional, and immature? Or in Weiss' case, the Faunus on campus, Naruto, and half her team plus Naruto…that could only be found in a private bathroom.

That wasn't to say that Weiss hated or even disliked her team. She got along with them all well enough and the blonde idiot that was her commander had proven himself capable…occasionally. They could just be so aggravating sometimes. The Schnee heiress sighed. Why couldn't her commander have been Professor Goodwitch? They had quite a lot in common from what the young heiress could see.

Idly her hand came up to trace the jagged scar that ran just on the outside of her left eye. The feeling of the uneven skin snapped her out of her ponderings. She hated looking at the scar, hated touching it. Just knowing it was there was enough to send her feelings through the grinder and what came out was always a mess of negativity and painful memories. Try as she might, she couldn't ignore it. It was there every time she looked in the mirror. Serving the exact purpose it was intended for.

"_Remember well, Weiss. You are a Schnee before all else! You must be perfect in everything you do! If you wish to pursue this folly, then you will bear the scars to remind you of every failure!"_

Those had been her father's words.

She hated them.

She hated the scar on her face.

She hated the memories it brought up.

She glared bitterly at her reflection. Because despite all the things she hated, there was one thing that stood out above all else. The one thing she hated more than anything was-

"Weiss! You've been in there long enough! Now hurry up before Ruby pees in her pajamas! She's already started doing that little dance." Yang's voice called out from the other side of the door. The young heiress could hear her teammate whining to her older sister for saying something so embarrassing out loud.

Weiss rolled her eyes before leaving the bathroom. Thirty minutes of alone time truly wasn't enough.

XxX

"Hmm," Naruto hummed quietly as he stared down at the mission scroll in his hands. Classes had concluded for the day and just before Naruto could book it to the mess hall for his third infusion of rameny goodness, Ozpin had called him up to his office.

"I was expecting you to say-" The Headmaster of Beacon started before being cut off by his youngest staff member.

"So how many greased palms did it take for this steaming pile of Grimm shit to make its way into Beacon?"

Ozpin rolled his eyes. That was more like the Naruto he knew. Grimacing as he recalled the results of his investigations, he answered. "Too many. Needless to say, they've been let go."

"And were most likely picked right back up by the Schnee Company."

Ozpin frowned, revealing just how true Naruto's accusations were. "Odds are the Schnee Dust Company wishes to ensure their silence. As you should know, silence never ends with just one payment."

"Tamamo wouldn't sell any of my secrets even if I did stop sleeping with her. At least, not the ones I really wish to keep." Naruto defended knowing exactly who Ozpin had been referring to.

"True," He conceded. "But that hasn't stopped her from blackmailing you a few times in regards to other things…" Ozpin trailed off as he reached into his top desk drawer and withdrew a familiar book, "The Glass Slipper" and waved it at him. "…isn't that right, Mr. Bakatchu?"

Naruto frowned in annoyance at his boss. Ozpin had been one of only a handful who managed to figure out his pen name and the prick just loved lording it over the blonde. Not that the Headmaster would actually spill that secret, Naruto was already a big enough celebrity without the title of "World Renowned Author". It was all good though. Plans were in motion to pay Ozzy back. Even if meant burning alongside the Headmaster, Naruto would call it a price well paid if it meant getting Ozpin to stop teasing him about his alternative and arguably primary source of income. The joys of a teacher's salary…there were none.

But that was neither here nor there. Thus, Naruto felt it necessary to move the meeting along. "So why bother showing it to me? Deny it for violating Beacon's mission policies and send it back. A "fuck you" would be optional, but highly encouraged."

Ozpin sighed in annoyance. "Why must you insist on being so difficult?"

"Because you insist on playing games," Naruto responded, equally annoyed. The two glared at each other for a moment before Naruto backed down. Like it or not, Ozzy was his boss and the blonde did respect the man, no matter how little he showed it at times. "Fine, I'll see what the team thinks about this. But just for the record, I'm calling this a bad idea."

"Could it truly be any worse than ignoring it only for Ms. Schnee to learn you knew about this mission and chose to refrain from saying anything?"

Naruto blanched at that. Weiss could be difficult at the best of times, he'd absolutely hate seeing what she would be like should she actually have something to legitimately bitch about. "Point taken, I'll be sure to drop in on them before the day ends."

"That's all I ask," Ozpin replied. Truth be told, he wasn't keen on this mission either. However, the Schnee name was not to be taken lightly and at least one member of Team RWBY would have a personal claim to this. Denying the mission may have been both the right and smart thing to do, but it could also open the door for greater trouble down the line. Such was the nature of politics.

XxX

The sun had just finished setting and the four girls of Team RWBY were spending their time lounging around in their room. Even though lights out wouldn't be for another hour or so, the four usually took the time after dinner to relax and either finish some schoolwork or do whatever helped them settle down after a long, boring day of classes. Ruby was resting on her bed going over her homework and making sure she was satisfied with her answers. Blake was also resting on her bed reading a book. Yang was off to the side of the room where she merrily danced with her eyes closed to the music pumping through her headphones. Weiss was standing by her dresser only in her school skirt and white, lacy bra. She had just gotten in after doing some independent research in the library and was getting changed for the evening. She had just pulled out her pajama top when the door to their room suddenly opened.

"Good evening, girls! How are you all feeling this fine evening?" Naruto exclaimed as he stood in the doorway.

"What the hell!?" Weiss shouted doing her best to cover herself. "Are you blind? Shut the damn door!"

Naruto looked over at her with a raised eyebrow before quickly snapping back into action. "Whoops! Sorry, Weiss."

He stepped fully into the room before shutting the door.

"And get out!" The Schnee heiress shouted.

Now Naruto gave her a look of confusion. "But then I'd have to open the door."

Weiss was seething. Blake lowered her book just enough to glance over at her teammate. "You know, it would be faster to just put your clothes on than trying to fight his intentional idiocy."

"Yang, Blake's being mean to me!" Naruto whined. Yang however, was still in her own little world as she danced to the beat only she could hear. Seeing his fellow prankster wasn't paying him any mind, he turned to what he saw as his next best source of support. "Ruby, Blake is being mean to me!"

Ruby hopped off her bed and approached Naruto's side giving him a few comforting pats. "There, there."

Weiss gave the whole room an icy glare before quickly pulling her pajama top on while Naruto was being comforted by Ruby. "Why are you all so calm!? What if he'd come in while we were naked?"

Naruto stood up straight and answered in all seriousness. "If that were to happen I would gladly burn the image into my brain before I fall victim to the unholy feminine wrath that would follow."

"What he said," Blake said as she turned the page of her book.

"Yup!" Ruby happily agreed despite the slight dusting of pink on her cheeks. A boy seeing her naked? Talk about embarrassing.

Weiss gave them a frustrated groan. Rounding on her team's commander, she waspishly asked. "And just what was so important that you had to barge into our room this late in the evening? So help me, if you just came in hopes of getting a free show-"

Naruto took that moment to cut her off. "I'd watch the pervert accusations if I were you. I'm not the one who passes their time reading smut."

"It's erotic literature!" Three affronted voices shouted. Their combined volume serving to get Yang's attention.

"Huh? Naruto? When did you get here?" She asked. A quick survey of the room revealed her teammates giving her fellow blonde three intense glares. "And what did I miss?"

Naruto hummed thoughtfully as he ignored the others ire. "Hmm, well Weiss was stripping at the start, then Blake started being mean to me. Ruby was being her sweet, innocent, little self for a while, but now she's glaring at me for some odd reason."

Yang looked at Weiss.

"He barged in when I was changing!" She coldly stated as she crossed her arms.

Yang nodded, that would explain why she was still in her school skirt. She then looked to Blake.

"After barging in, he was purposely being difficult when he realized the state Weiss was in." The black hair girl of Team RWBY calmly answered as she continued reading. Naruto blew a raspberry at her whilst Blake ignored his immaturity.

Yang nodded once more. That certainly sounded like something Naruto would do if he caught them in some compromising situation. Finally, she turned to look at her younger sister.

"He insulted Mr. Bakatchu's generous gift to the people of the world!"

Yang rolled her eyes. Clearly that was the gravest offense the Prince could have been responsible for.

For the sake of the group, she chose to ignore Weiss' issue as the girl would probably rather forget it ever happened. Naruto's complaint towards Blake was an over exaggeration to begin with, so that wasn't worth even a second thought. Thus, in order for serenity to be achieved, Yang decided to focus on her little sister's complaint.

"Come on, Prince. You can't tell me you've never read one of Gama Bakatchu's stories."

Naruto rocked back and forth on his heels as he gave her a mischievous smile. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Naruto didn't read the stories, he wrote them. Proofreading didn't count since they were talking about reading for pleasure.

"Doesn't mean I don't know what happens in all four of them."

"He only has three books published," Blake stated not looking away from her own book.

"Oh! That's right. My bad," Naruto said a bit too quickly. He forgot his fourth book wasn't out yet and wouldn't be until sometime next semester. The girls gave him an odd look that he nervously tried to laugh off before choosing to steer the conversation towards safer waters. "Matters of smut-"

"Erotic literature!" Weiss and Ruby yelled.

"-aside," Naruto continued, dismissing the interruption. "A request has made it to the Headmaster's office and Ozzy wanted me to bring it to you four to decide whether or not we accept."

Blake looked up from her book. "I thought missions were mandatory. Since the missions are filtered before making it to Beacon."

The frown on Naruto's face told them enough.

"This didn't go through the normal screening process, did it?" Weiss, ever the sharp one asked.

"Bingo," their commander confirmed. Naruto reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a deactivated scroll before tossing it to Weiss. "I'm sure you can figure out why we are taking a rather unconventional approach towards this _request_." He emphasized. Missions were mandatory, this was optional.

The other three members of Team RWBY approached Weiss to look at the scroll over her shoulder while Naruto leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, patiently waiting. Weiss gave him an inquisitive look before activating the scroll. What it revealed surprised all four of them.

"Head to the attached coordinates, mission briefing will occur on location," Ruby read aloud.

"Hey, isn't this an S-class mission?" Yang asked.

Naruto nodded. Any time a mission came without a debriefing it was treated as an S-class. It didn't even matter if it was something as stupid as cleaning toilets. No one liked walking into a situation blindly.

"And Professor Ozpin wanted our approval?" Blake asked. Seeing Naruto nod she couldn't help but ask. "Why?"

Naruto noticed the look on Weiss' face and said. "_That_ is the million lien question and it looks like Weiss has the answer."

The three girls turned to the Schnee heiress and saw her body trembling slightly. Not badly enough to be readily noticeable, but certainly enough for those who knew her to see.

"It-it's from the Schnee Dust Company." She answered before biting her lower lip. She looked back at the goggled blonde and asked. "Why would my family's company send a mission to Beacon without using the proper channels?"

Naruto shrugged, "I honestly don't know any more than you. All I can really add is that it was coming our way. The fact that it was caught before it could officially be assigned to us is the only reason Ozzy wants to hear your thoughts on the situation."

"What would have happened if it had been officially assigned to us?" Ruby asked.

Blake answered for Naruto, "We would have been forced to complete the mission. Missions handled by students are cheaper for the contractor and considered good learning experiences for the students themselves."

Their teacher nodded in agreement before elaborating. "It's the reason for the screening process. Should your request be accepted, you get a full team of students plus their advisor at a fraction of the cost you'd pay for an active Hunter. The only downsides to submitting a request to Beacon, is being turned down and the time you spend waiting for the screening process to assess your mission and find an appropriate team. It's not often a mission comes to Beacon that shouldn't have. But those few that do, usually do so because of someone not paying attention during the screening process. This mission however…" he paused to gesture at the scroll in Weiss' hands. "Made it as far as it did because a lot of bribes were made to make it so."

Team RWBY looked back at the scroll before returning their gaze to the only guy in the room.

"You don't sound very happy." Blake commented.

Naruto uncrossed his arms before pushing off the wall. "I'm not. An S-class mission has no place in Beacon and yet here it is, in the hands of the very team it was being streamlined to. I didn't even want to bring it to you four, but Ozzy did have a point. This mission is likely related to you, Weiss and as a member of Team RWBY, you four should have a say on the matter."

Blake, Yang, and Ruby looked at the Schnee heiress only to see her biting her lower lip as she hesitantly glanced at them each in turn. Weiss understood the potential dangers of an S-class mission and she didn't want to ask her friends to risk their lives over what could possibly be a personal matter for her. Ever since she made the decision to become a Huntress, her father had thrown all manner of tests and challenges for her to overcome in an attempt to break her of what he considered a fool's errand. Weiss Schnee was a member of the upper echelons of society, she had no place on the battlefield. At least, that was how her father viewed things.

"C-c-could we," Weiss started. She wanted to have time to think it over. Of course no amount of thinking would matter if the rest of the team was…

"We'll do it!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Huh!?" Weiss managed to gasp out at Ruby's sudden declaration. A look at her fellow members showed her nothing but understanding smiles.

"This matters a lot to you. Right, Weiss?" She asked. "I'm sure if we were ever in need of help you'd be willing to do the same for us!"

"Yeah!" Yang readily agreed.

"We are a team after all," Blake added with a smaller smile than the other two.

Weiss didn't know how to respond, but the large smile and slight watering of her eyes conveyed the message easily enough.

Naruto sighed as he looked towards the ground. Shaking his head, he looked back up at the four and smiled. "Well at least I can be proud that you four are on the right track. That being said…" Naruto turned to glance at Team RWBY's leader. "Ruby, I'm relieving you of command for the duration of this mission."

"What!?" Ruby asked, her face pale from shock. The other three looked just as surprised at Naruto's declaration.

"Weiss," He continued. Weiss was quick to snap to attention. "You will be Team RWBY's leader for this mission."

"Huh!?" Weiss exclaimed.

"I expect you all to get plenty of rest. We leave bright and early tomorrow." Naruto said before turning and exiting the room.

"W-wait!" Ruby said before chasing after him leaving the other three in the room, too shocked by Naruto's decision.

Despite having followed the blonde out of the room almost immediately after he had departed, Naruto was still a fair way down the hall and had just rounded the corner. Ruby was hot on his tail. She rounded the corner at full speed…and promptly into someone's chest. Before she completely lost her balance, two strong hands gripped her shoulders and held her steady.

"Easy there, Red." Naruto chided softly. "You should never run around a corner, especially during a chase. Otherwise, you make yourself an easy target."

"R-right," She muttered uncertainly while glancing at the floor.

"I am glad you followed me though," He said, prompting Ruby to look up. "I know what this is about and didn't feel it was a conversation for anyone other than the two of us."

"Ummm..."

That was all that really came to Ruby's mind.

"So, why did I give Weiss the role of leader?" Naruto said aloud as he placed his hands behind his head and interlocked his fingers. "To be honest, there is no simple answer. I had a number of factors come up that made me choose Weiss over you."

Ruby had to know. "Like what?"

"Well, the primary reason is simple enough. We're going on a mission for the _Schnee_ Dust Company. Weiss has a personal investment in this mission and even though the details are currently nonexistent, she will likely be knowledgeable about a number of factors that we aren't aware of," Naruto started. "Secondly, she has questioned your leadership in the past and that means she will be more likely to do so during this particular mission."

"But we worked that out…" Ruby said demurely.

"That was then, this is now. Had this been a regular, school issued mission I don't doubt she would follow your lead. But like I said, this mission…" Naruto trailed off.

"…Is personal." The young rosette finished.

"Exactly."

"But what if that clouds her judgement?"

The blonde snorted, "Weiss is in charge of the team, but even she has to answer to someone and that is me. I can reign her in and take over if I feel she lets things get out of hand."

"I see," Ruby whispered to herself.

Naruto smiled and ruffled her hair getting a cute pout out of her. "Don't worry your pretty little head over this, Ruby. This may not have gone the way either of us expected our first mission would go, but it is what it is. Focus instead on what you can do to support Weiss and the rest of the team."

Ruby beamed at her commander and nodded.

As Naruto walked away he said, "And make sure the team goes to sleep as soon as you get back to your room. We leave before first light."

Ruby's smile instantly vanished.

XxX

It was just shy of five in the morning and four members of Team RWBY were hunched over trying their hardest to stay awake as they waited for the Bullhead that would take them to Vale. That and their commanding officer.

"Good morning girls!" Naruto cheerfully greeted much to the team's annoyance.

Yang groaned, "How are you so upbeat?"

"I raided Oobleck's stash as I finished preparations for our departure." Naruto proudly stated before holding up a small tray with four steaming cups. "Coffee?"

Needless to say, those cups were gone in seconds.

"What took you so long!?" Weiss exclaimed more awake than before.

Naruto turned his head and innocently said. "Super-secret teacher stuff."

Yang turned to her partner and whispered, "Five lien says that's Naruto-speech for 'I did something that will get me in big trouble, but will blow over before I return'."

"No bet," Blake dryly replied.

Naruto clapped his hands as the Bullhead arrived. "So shall we go?"

It was a short trip to Vale's airport and from there the team took a cab to the train station to find a single streamlined locomotive with two cars attached to it. The four girls stared dumbfounded at the train before them. Finally, Blake said the one thing they were all thinking. "…It's orange."

"Awesome, right?" Naruto asked. "Welcome to the Uzumaki Express! My own personal train."

"You have your own train?" Weiss questioned. He nodded. "How can you even afford that!?"

"I have my ways." He grinned mischievously.

"Ten lien-"

"No bet."

Yang pouted at her partner's immediate refusal.

Naruto led his team on board the first car and gave them a brief tour. "Down this hall you'll find two rooms on your right and one room at the end. The two rooms I first mentioned have a pair of cots you can use to catch up on your beauty rest. Seeing as we have a six hour trip ahead of us, I recommend you four get some sleep. Especially since you'll be crashing from Oobleck's coffee in say…" He glanced at his team noting how their eyes were starting to droop and their shoulders were becoming hunched. "…ten more minutes or so. If you wake up before we reach our destination or need me for something I'll be in the room at the front of the car and since we passed the bathroom on the way here, I doubt you need me to point it out again." He finished before walking to the end of the hall.

Yang let out a yawn as she and Blake made their way to the first room, "You'd think with how active Professor Oobleck is, his coffee would have us buzzing for the rest of the day."

"Why do you think he drinks so much of that crap?" Her fellow blonde called over his shoulder.

Weiss and Ruby followed Naruto down the hall, but when they reached their room only Ruby entered. The Schnee heiress looked between the room her partner practically dragged herself into before glancing at her commander's back. If she were being completely honest, she was just as tired as the rest of her team, if not more so. The nerves of going on her first official mission as a Huntress as well as being named leader had made sleep rather difficult the night before.

"Weiss?" Ruby called.

Weiss looked back at her teammate. "Get some rest, Ruby. I need to go over some things with, Commander Uzumaki."

The rosette gave her partner a curious look. "You know he hates formalities. Besides, you look like you need rest too."

"I'm fine!" She snapped before letting out a sigh. "Sorry. It's just, this is our first mission, Ruby. We should be taking this seriously."

Ruby watched Weiss head towards the room Naruto had pointed out last with a small frown. Like her teammate, she was just as nervous about their first mission. However, her talk with Naruto the night before had eased a lot of that tension. Sighing, she shut the door to their room and flopped on the cot. She hoped Naruto would be able to help Weiss relax.

Weiss for her part had just entered what she thought was Naruto's room, but instead found it to be a spacious room complete with sofas, a television, bookshelves loaded with all kinds of books, a minibar, and even a freaking pinball machine! It was like one of the Schnee family's personal transports and once more she found herself wondering just how the hell Naruto could even afford such a setup. Further observations were cut short when she heard said blonde's voice.

"Oi, granny! We're ready to go." Naruto said into a speaker on the wall.

"Yeah, yeah," Came the gruff response of an older woman. "Why the hell am I doing this again?"

"Because you're an old drunk who owes me a hell of a lot of favors and-"

"Keep giving me shit and I'll come back there and plant your face into the ground!"

Naruto continued not the least bit phased by the woman's threat. "And I have Tamamo on speed dial ready to tell every debt collector in Remnant where they can find you."

Silence reigned for a full ten seconds.

"…I'll be good."

Naruto smirked as the train lurched forward. He turned around to see Weiss standing by the door. Arching his eyebrow at her, he said. "I know I mentioned I'd be here if you needed me, but you really should be getting some rest, Weiss."

"I just wanted to go over some things for the mission." The Schnee heiress said as she watched Naruto make his way over to the minibar where he grabbed two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine.

"There isn't much to go over right now," He said as he poured two glasses. Putting the wine away he grabbed the wine filled glasses and approached Team RWBY's temporary leader. "Here."

"It's not even six in the morning!" She exclaimed. Naruto handed her the glass anyway.

"Relax, it's just one glass and the alcohol will help ease your nerves. Now come and sit down."

The two headed over to the sofa and sat on opposite ends. Weiss glanced at the glass of wine in her hand before looking back at Naruto to see him already taking a sip. Sighing in resignation, she brought the glass to her nose and took a sniff of its aroma before immediately looking at Naruto in shock. "This is a Mantle Black Vintage!"

Her commander smirked as he took another sip before saying, "I knew you'd be able to appreciate its quality."

"Can I have some?" Came the voice from the speaker.

Naruto turned and glared at the wall, "Your definition of some would the rest of the bottle! So, hell no!"

Weiss was still shocked at the wine she was holding. A single bottle of Mantle Black Vintage ran for a couple thousand lien. That was the kind of wine you saved for a serious celebration! Like someone showing up after being presumed dead for over ten years serious.

"Okay, tell me now! How can you afford all this!?" Weiss nearly shouted. "There is no way in hell you can pay for all this on a teacher's budget! Hell you couldn't even afford this even if you were the most successful Hunter in all of Remnant!"

A snort came from the speaker, "Are you kidding? Do you know just who that brat is? His boo-"

"Hi, Tamamo," Naruto loudly spoke as though he were talking to the woman on his scroll, even though it wasn't turned on. "What's the current bounty for information on Tsunade Senju's whereabouts?"

"Shutting up."

The connection from the speaker quickly shut off after that.

"What was she about to say?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all," Naruto chuckled nervously. "As to your question, I didn't buy it. I won it and two other bottles like it in a card game. Now hurry up and drink. Someone with your refined palate should know not to waste wine of that quality."

Weiss gave him a shrewd stare before taking his advice. She took a small sip and savored the flavor on her tongue before swallowing. Soon after, she began to relax as she basked in the pleasure of enjoying the finest of wines. "You know this is only the second time I've ever had the chance to taste a Mantle Black Vintage."

"The experience never truly leaves you, huh?"

Weiss hummed her agreement before having another sip. They spent the next thirty minutes discussing the finer points of wine tasting. A discussion that left the Schnee heiress pleasantly surprised as she had never imagined someone as rough and immature as Naruto to have such a deep knowledge on wine. Before long her glass was empty and all her concerns and worries for the mission were all but forgotten allowing her exhaustion and the alcohol to ease her to sleep. Naruto smiled at his student before grabbing her glass and placing it on the nearby table. He then got up and carefully repositioned Weiss so that she was laying fully on the couch.

He grabbed both glasses and headed over to the minibar to wash them out. His plan to distract Weiss from dwelling on what was to come had worked perfectly. He had seen the bags under her eyes clear as day when he had first approached the team that morning and knew she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Part of him mourned having to use his best wine to do it because those bottles were seriously expensive, not to mention rare. But a larger part of him considered it a small sacrifice since it had helped one of his students.

Pulling out his scroll, Naurto started going over what he could in regards to the mission. The train would only carry them so far. They would have to drive the rest of the way as the facility was still a good thirty minutes away from where they'd be getting off. Best to have the course plotted out before they reached it.

The blonde grunted in frustration, due to the legitimate fear of a White Fang attack, the facility had been built in what was pretty much the middle of nowhere and the only way to and from the facility had been a series of landing pads. His original plan had been to take a Bullhead to their destination, but it was quickly cast away when he learned the facilities anti-air defenses had been targeting any and all airships indiscriminately. It was one of the few details he managed to get out of the Schnee Dust Company after the team had accepted the mission. This meant they would be off-roading it once they got off the train. Something he suspected would please Yang greatly.

As he continued studying the map of the surrounding area, he idly wondered how his gift to Ozzy went.

XxX

Glynda Goodwitch was a creature of habit. At six she woke up and prepared for the day. By six twenty she was dressed and headed to the faculty room to collect whatever reports needed to be addressed by the Headmaster. At six thirty she entered the Headmasters office with the reports and a hot cup of coffee. She would then wait fifteen minutes for Professor Ozpin to arrive.

It was during this wait that Glynda noticed something was off in the Headmaster's office. There, sitting innocently on his desk was a book with a note attached to it. Glynda was not the curious sort, but this was an abnormality in her routine and so she decided to take a little peek at the note.

_Dear Ozzy,_

_Here is that book you blackmailed me into writing (you bastard). As per our agreement it is the only copy in existence and if you publish this I will flay you alive! Also remember, you promised that Glynda will NEVER see this book and that should she ever find it, you would accept full responsibility._

_All my hate,_

_Naruto_

Now let it be said once more for the record, Glynda was not a curious sort by nature, but even she had her limits and so she set the note aside and read the cover of the book, "The Naughty Professor". Glynda's eyebrow twitched as she, being the intelligent woman that she was could already guess what the book was. Picking it up, she started reading the first few pages. Her anger growing with the turn of every page.

Like clockwork, Ozpin entered his office fifteen minutes later and quickly noted the drop in temperature. He glanced over at the only other occupant in the room to see Glynda holding a book with one hand and her riding crop in the other. The glare she gave him had him sweating profusely.

"I don't suppose the words 'I'm innocent' will save me from whatever has angered you?" He hesitantly asked.

"Not in the slightest." Was her response.

Ten minutes and a lot of pain later Glynda left the Headmaster's office, book in hand. She descended down the elevator and stomped her way through the campus back to her office. Anyone that saw her quickly ran for cover. When she finally reached the sanctity of her office she shut the door and immediately locked it. She threw a suspicious gaze around the room before letting out an uncharacteristic squeal and hugged the book to her chest.

She, like Professor Ozpin was aware of Naruto's alias as Gama Bakatchu and would never openly admit she was a huge fan of his. She glanced down at the book in her arms reverently, as any true fan of Gama Bakatchu she recognized the value of the book. It was the only copy! She knew that much for certain because she knew as well as Naruto did that had he published a book with her likeness as the heroine he would never write another book again. On account of him being dead. That meant this book was easily the most priceless book in all of existence! At least, as far as she was concerned.

She quickly rushed to her desk and sat down before opening the book to the page she had left off at. As she continued reading, a single thought pervaded her mind. How had Naruto gotten her three sizes?

"Oh who cares," She said to herself as she continued reading.

XxX

Over the course of the next four and a half hours, Blake, Yang, and Ruby would enter the lounge and glance around in shock. Before any of them could say anything, Naruto would shush them and tell them to be quiet since Weiss was still sleeping. This proved easy for Blake and Ruby as Blake passed the time reading one of the many books from Naruto's library and Ruby spent her time watching television while listening through headphones. Yang proved problematic as she saw the pinball machine that was practically calling out to her. She decided to show her displeasure by hanging off of Naruto's shoulders and moaning her complaints.

"Just wake her up already," She whined.

"For the…" Naruto paused as he tried to remember what number they were on.

"Forty seventh."

"Thanks, Blake." He said before turning to look at Yang still hanging off his shoulders. "For the forty seventh time, no. Ask again and I'm giving you a haircut."

Yang's eyes flashed red, "You wouldn't dare."

The two had a stare off that ended with Naruto drawing one of his throwing knives. An act that sent his fellow blonde scurrying away to hide behind her sister. Ruby looked surprised by her sister's sudden appearance and pulled her headphones off. "Yang?"

"Ruby, Naruto is being mean to me." Her older sister whined.

Ruby patted her sister's shoulder. "There, there."

Blake remembered a similar scene playing out the night before. Shaking her head and returning to her book, she muttered. "Must be a blonde thing."

Weiss groaned from her place on the sofa before slowly sitting up.

"Oh Dust! Thank you!" Yang cheered before rushing over to the pinball machine.

"Huh?" The young heiress asked sleepily. She quickly noticed the other members of her team were in the lounge and soon remembered that she fell asleep. She quickly stood up far more alert than before. "How long was I out? Are we there yet?"

"Relax," Naruto said as he came over and handed her a glass of water. "We still have another hour."

"Then we should-"

"Listen to your commander and try to settle down," He said, cutting her off. "There's nothing more we can do until we get there."

"But-," Weiss stopped as Naruto held out a scroll to her. Putting the water aside she took it and studied the display.

"I've already mapped out the quickest route from the train tracks to the facility. The best thing you can do is take a page from your teammates' book and try to enjoy the rest of the trip."

Weiss seemingly ignored Naruto as she double-checked his route before finally admitting to herself that it was indeed the fastest one available. Sighing, she apologized. "It just feels like I should be doing more."

The commander of Team RWBY nodded in understanding. "The waiting game is always the worst. Why else do you think I invested in this train? Now why don't you go find something to read? I doubt you'd be interested in anything Ruby is watching and Yang probably won't let anyone near that pinball machine for the rest of the trip."

"There's no 'probably' about it, Prince! That high score is as good as mine!"

Naruto snorted, "Fat chance, you know how many hours I've invested in that-"

Suddenly the pinball machine lit up with the words "NEW HIGH SCORE" flashing across the screen.

"So fast!" Naruto shouted while Yang just gave him a cheeky grin.

"You may be the Prince of Beacon, but I'm the Queen of Pinball," She said giving him a double victory pose. However, her pose cost her as she lost her first ball. She cried in dismay before focusing on the game once more.

Weiss just sighed at her team's antics.

XxX

The final hour of the trip passed relatively quickly for the group and it wasn't long before they felt the train begin to slow down. Naruto stood up and clapped his hands gathering everyone's attention. "All right girls, this is where we will be disembarking. If you have to go to the bathroom, I suggest you do so now since the rest of the trip will be pretty bumpy."

Ruby paled as she recalled the last time she shared a "bumpy ride" with Naruto. With a quick application of her semblance, she rushed to the lavatory with a cry of, "Me first!"

The other three girls of Team RWBY decided to follow after the rosette as they still had another half-hour to travel and would likely not have a chance to use the restroom once the mission truly started.

Naruto watched them leave before heading over to the speaker. "Oi, Granny. We'll be leaving shortly. Stay away from my booze or I'll take it out of your paycheck! And if you so much as look at the Mantle Black I will quit my job as a teacher and make my new profession in life, ruining yours!"

"Yeah, yeah. Read your loud and clear, brat." Tsunade responded. The blonde nodded before turning to head out only to be stopped by the older woman's voice. "…Are you sure my presence won't be needed?"

"Honestly? I don't know," He admitted. "But I didn't ask you here to fight. I just want you standing by should any of them get hurt."

"If that's the case, then it's a waste keeping me cooped up in this train."

Naruto shrugged, not that Tsunade could see it, "You're probably right about it being a waste, but you seem to be overlooking one thing."

"Oh?"

The blonde smirked, "They'll already have me waiting on the sidelines."

XxX

The four girls of Team RWBY looked dumbfounded at the vehicle they would be riding for the rest of the trip. Located in the second car of the train was a large off-road four door truck with a spacious bed, complete with a segmented metal cover…and it was orange…burnt orange with black flamed decals.

"Um…Naruto, I think you may have an unhealthy obsession with the color orange." Ruby nervously pointed out.

"Oi! I don't want to hear that from any of you, missus Red, White, Black, and Yellow!" Naruto protested.

"We don't flaunt our favorite colors nearly as much as you," Blake blandly stated before heading to the back seat. Naruto sulked as he made his way to the driver's side.

Yang gave Weiss a curious look. "Aren't you going to ask him how he can afford this?"

The Schnee heiress shook her head in resignation. "I gave up that inquiry hours ago…Oh and Yang?"

"Hmm?" Yang said as she approached the front seat on the passenger's side. Seeing Weiss' smirk quickly made her realize her mistake.

"Shotgun."

"Shotg-Dammit," Yang said being a split second too late. With a pout she headed to the back. Ruby snickered at her sister before following after her.

Once everyone was situated Naruto told them to buckle up and hit a button on the dashboard that caused the back of the train to open up and a ramp to shoot out. Putting the truck in reverse, he slammed his foot on the accelerator and launched the truck out of the train completely bypassing the ramp. An act that elicited three cries of terror and one cheer from the other members of Team RWBY.

Once the truck hit the ground, Naruto quickly turned it to face the direction of the Schnee Company's facility and put the truck into first gear. Sending a smirk to Weiss who was clinging to the door with one hand and bracing herself against the dash, he glanced into the rearview mirror at his other passengers. Blake and Ruby were holding each other out of fear and Yang was looking right at him with eyes shining in excitement.

"Hold on to your butts," Naruto said before flooring it.

XxX

"For Dust's sake! Can you slow down!?" Weiss shouted. In the backseat, Ruby and Blake were still holding onto each other tightly, crying out every time the truck went airborne while Yang laughed merrily and cheered her fellow blonde on.

"I thought you wanted to get there as fast as possible?" Naruto casually asked as the vehicle vaulted over another hill.

"And in one piece you jackass!"

XxX

Team RWBY finally got their reprieve from Naruto's driving fifteen minutes after they left when they approached a forest with a moderate amount of trees. The trees themselves were sparse enough to drive around them, but still dense enough that it forced their driver to be a little more careful. Weiss took this chance to pull out her scroll and access its radio functions.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asked as she leant forward to get a better look.

"All Schnee Company facilities operate on a private, short-ranged frequency that allows them to communicate with groups outside the facility in the event of an emergency. That's a company secret, by the way. So keep it to yourselves," She explained before continuing. "You can thank the White Fang for the backup communications. They make it a habit of taking out or primary communications when they assault one of our factories."

Only Naruto noticed Blake's brief look of shame.

Once she was tapped in, Weiss began to send a message over the emergency line. "Attention! This is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. My team and I are currently in route to the facility and are requesting an update on the current situation. If anyone is listening, please respond!"

The line was filled with static before a shaky voice came over the line, "O-oh thank Dust! M-miss Schnee! This is Doctor Noal, head of cyber-system maintenance! I-I think I'm the only survivor left! Please hurry!"

"The only guy left is head of tech support?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"I'm more curious how he got a doctorate in tech support." Yang responded.

"Shut up!" Weiss snapped before turning back to the scroll in hand. "Dr. Noal, we're still roughly fifteen minutes out, but we have no information on what is going on at the facility. Any information you can provide could prove essential to our success."

"You mean you don't know!?"

"And we will continue to remain ignorant unless you start talking." Naruto said loud enough for the man to hear.

"R-right! Um, well you see this facility was designed to create a new form of security for the Schnee family's shipping industry. Mr. Schnee was tired of the failures that came from Atlas' defense bots so he had this facility built in secret to develop a new line of security robots."

Team RWBY looked stunned at the news.

"That's illegal weapons research and development." Weiss said in shock. How could her family do this?

"I-it wasn't like we were going to implement them right away," Dr. Noal defended. "Once we had our first series completed, we were going to present a single prototype for military certification."

"That hardly justifies things!" Weiss declared. "What if they failed certification!? We would have a whole bunch of useless not to mention _illegal_ weapons in our possession!"

Naruto already guessed the answer was through bribes.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The good doctor cried. "I wish I could tell you more, but I don't know anything else about production. I was just meant to oversee their programming."

Weiss wanted to continue her interrogation, but was cut off by Naruto. "So what happened? I'm guessing these murderbots went rogue."

"Yes and no," Was his answer. "The SDC-Mk 1's are technically acting as they should. The problem is our Mother Goose."

"What's a Mother Goose?" Ruby asked.

"A virtual intelligence overseer," Naruto answered. "They are used to monitor and operate assembly lines and report any problems to maintenance." He paused for a moment before musing aloud. "I've never heard of one going rogue though."

"I'm not sure what happened either," Dr. Noal admitted. "A Mother Goose has no combat protocols. A hive mind overseer works great for construction, but not when it comes to fighting since you would cripple yourself should anything happen to it. But that's the situation."

The five members of Team RWBY were listening attentively.

"Twelve days ago, Mother Goose started installing a new program into the SDC-Mk 1's programming. Because of the passive nature and reliability of a Mother Goose, we didn't realize the program was being installed until the Mk 1's came online and began attacking the facility two days later," The doctor continued. "Our security team was taken out almost immediately and those of us that weren't caught in the initial attack managed to barricade ourselves at various points around the facility. I was smart enough to make it back to the security command center after Mother Goose's initial attack. If it weren't for the triple layered mag-locks on the doors, I doubt I'd still be alive."

"Wait, you're in the command center?" Weiss asked. "That means you should have control of the facility."

"That was the other reason I ran here," Dr. Noal said proudly. "I've been doing everything I can to hinder Mother Goose. However, as of last night I've been hearing all sorts of noises outside the door. I don't know how much longer I'll be safe here."

"Why would she wait so long to go after you?" Naruto asked as a large building came into sight.

"She's working on something…Something big, but I can't figure out what." Dr. Noal answered apprehensively. "I see your vehicle. I'll monitor your progress and do my best to guide you. But be careful, Mother Goose tried hacking into our systems a few days ago. Her approach was pretty barbaric so I was able to fend her off, but she was able to gain access to the cameras as well as our anti-air defenses."

That answered why they hadn't been able to fly to the facility.

"So everything you can see, she can see." Blake assessed.

"I'm afraid so."

Silence filled the cabin of the truck as the Team digested everything they heard. It was clear to them now just why the mission was made an S-class. The fewer people that knew of the Schnee Company's work with illegal weapons development, the less the company had to cover up.

Weiss clenched her fists in anger. She knew her family had partaken in questionable practices from time to time, but she always defended those deeds as an "ends justify the means" approach. A bitter pill that was made easier to swallow when she pushed the blame onto the White Fang. However, this was something else entirely. While the facility was constructed in response to the constant assaults by that accursed Faunus faction, weapons development went beyond toeing the line of the law. It was corporate dirty laundry and her family's very name was all over it.

Naruto stopped the vehicle just outside the facility allowing the team to get out. However, before Weiss could exit, she felt a strong grip on her wrist and turned to look at her commander with conflicted eyes.

"Don't dwell on what you can't fix," He advised. "Focus on the here and now and deal with the things you can't control later."

Weiss shut her eyes for a moment to collect herself before looking back at Naruto with more determination. She gave him a nod before stepping out of the vehicle. She would take care of this. But not for her father, nor for her family. She would right this wrong for herself.

(End of Chapter 5: Part 1)

**Omake Time!**

(Omake The Drunk Princess and the Toad Faunus Pt. 1)

A fourteen year old Naruto stumbled his way into town long after the sun had set. He'd been on his own for the last month since he left Jiraiya after their bitter disagreement. Turns out without the pervert's contacts or presence, very few people were willing to take him seriously when he went looking for work. The fact that he was also a Faunus didn't help matters. If that wasn't bad enough, his primary armaments had been destroyed after a harsh battle with some Ursai and he was now stuck with those damn throwing knives. At least they were cheaper to replace.

As he made his way down the main street he came across a scene that inspired some small measure of hope in him. There in the middle of the road was a blonde woman being harassed by a group of four thugs. Maybe if he saved her, she would treat him to a meal!

He took a single step before immediately diving out of the way as one of the thugs was sent flying his way. Naruto looked up in shock as he stared at the woman as she looked with boredom at the three remaining men surrounding her. The three men quickly scrounged up what courage they could muster before charging the woman. Had Naruto not spent the last number of years under Jiraiya's harsh regiment, he would have missed all the key details in favor of the circus act that was now dubbed "The Soaring Trio".

The woman didn't punch or kick her opponents away. She flicked them away with a single finger! And if his eyes weren't deceiving him, which he doubted was even possible what with Faunus having better vision at night than any human, a small light blue spark would appear at the tip of her finger right before a blast of Aura would send her target flying.

_How did she do that?_ Naruto thought before quickly picking himself up and running over to the woman. All thoughts of a free meal were cast aside in favor of learning more about this woman.

"Hey! Hey, lady!" Naruto shouted catching the woman's attention. "How'd you do that? That was so cool! How you sent those idiots flying with just a flick of your finger! I've never seen anything like that and I've seen some crazy stuff!"

The blonde woman looked bewildered before her face returned to its bored countenance. "Great, a fanboy…"

"Oi!"

"Listen, kid. I don't do autographs and my child rearing days have long since passed. In short, I have no time for you." She said before walking off.

Undeterred, Naruto quickly followed. "Who said anything about an autograph? I don't even know who you are."

The woman rounded on him, "You mean you've never heard of Tsunade Senju?"

Naruto gave her a blank look.

"One of the greatest retired Huntresses, not to mention _the_ greatest combat medic in history!?"

Still nothing.

Tsunade growled before hanging her head in resignation. "Kids these days…no respect for the veterans."

"So, how'd you do it?" Naruto asked returning to the whole reason for their conversation.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out," She answered in annoyance. "No go home, your parents are probably worried sick about you being out this late."

She began walking away leaving Naruto standing where he was.

"They're dead," he hollowly stated.

Tsunade stopped and turned to look back at him, "Huh?"

Naruto was looking away before answering. "My parents…they died a while ago. I've been wandering Remnant for about the last five years now…"

Tsunade turned around and took a better look at the kid. His ragged appearance was obvious, but it was the subtle points she was focused on. He was slightly emaciated from not having a proper diet, but she could still see some muscle on his frame. A slight glint at his waist made her take note of the knives strapped to his belt. The way he held himself despite his depression. Everything she saw told her the kid was a fighter and had most certainly been trained at some point. Which begged the question…

"Where's your guardian then?" She asked. "I doubt a kid like you could have survived Remnant all on your own."

"We…" Naruto hesitated. "Had a falling out. He wanted me to be someone I'm not and didn't care about my thoughts on the matter…"

Tsunade was curious about that, but cast it aside. It wasn't any of her business. "Well that sucks, kid. But I stand by my word. I'm not interested in having a sidekick."

She took a few more steps before she felt something latch onto her leg. She looked down with a twitching eyebrow to see the younger blonde gripping her leg with a bear hug.

"So cruel!" Naruto cried as he continued holding her leg. "How can you listen to my sob story and not feel the urge to help me!?"

"Easily!" Taking a few steps and dragging Naruto along. "Let go!"

"No!"

"Do it!"

"Teach me the 'Finger Flick of Awesome'!"

"It's not even called that!"

"I don't care!"

The many passersby watched the duo with a strange fascination as the blonde woman continued dragging the younger blonde down the street. The two of them shouting at each other the whole way.

XxX

Tsunade sat in a bathroom stall panting heavily. The women's restroom was the only safe haven from the blonde little leech! For the past four days that little shit hounded her! She even knocked him unconscious and left him in an alley before running out of town…twice! Whoever trained the brat did a good job teaching him how to track. May that man feel pain a thousand fold!

XxX

On the other side of town, the branch one Jiraiya was standing on overlooking the women's hot spring snapped sending him plummeting into the spring. As he cleared the water from his eyes, he opened them to find the murderous gazes of over a dozen angry Huntresses.

"Somehow…this is all Naruto's fault."

XxX

She even tried using the bathroom window to escape when she discovered he wouldn't actually follow her into one. But the little bastard could sense a person's Aura and chased her down not two minutes later!

Sighing she debated for the umpteenth time the merits of putting a kid into the hospital. Sure she would probably find her reputation taking a hit, but still…she had a lot of stress that needed relieving. But like always, she decided against it. There were just some lines that she wouldn't cross and as annoying as the kid was, he didn't deserve that sort of beating.

Having had enough time to collect her thoughts, Tsunade exited the restroom only to find two cops roughly holding the brat down on the floor.

"Quit squirming you little beast!" One officer said before punching Naruto's face.

"What's going on here!?" Tsunade said, alarmed at the rather harsh treatment.

The cop that struck Naruto stood up and gave her a charming smile. "Don't worry ma'am. We caught this Faunus before he could think of doing anything perverse."

"I was just leaning against the wall waiting for-"

"Shut up!" The cop said before kicking Naruto's side getting a pained grunt from the boy. Before she realized what she was doing, Tsunade walked up on the cop and strongly gripped his shoulder. The man winced as he looked back at her.

"That _kid_," She emphasized whilst glaring at the cop. If she couldn't beat the kid to within an inch of his life, this guy sure as hell wasn't going to. Especially not for some reason as petty as 'being a Faunus'. "Is with me. He was merely waiting for me to finish my business. Or are you saying its common practice in this town for grown women to take teenage boys into the bathroom with them."

The cop began to panic as he felt her grip on his shoulder tighten. "N-no, ma'am."

"Then I suggest you let him go."

The cop still holding Naruto down quickly got off and let the boy get up. Tsunade released the man she was holding before grabbing Naruto's arm and leading him away.

"W-wait just one moment," The cop she had been speaking to called out. Tsunade glared at him over her shoulder. "Y-you're Tsunade Senju. Correct?"

"What of it?"

"N-nothing." He quickly replied as he watched the pair walk away before pulling out his scroll.

XxX

Once they were a few blocks away, Tsunade let Naruto go. "That is the first and last time I will save your ass, brat. Now get lost. Because the next time you get in trouble with the law, you're on your own."

"…Understood…" Naruto whispered. The hits from the cop didn't hurt nearly as much as the discrimination. Jiraiya had always bared the brunt whenever it happened in the past, but he hadn't had that shield for the past month and it still left him feeling raw.

Tsunade was surprised by the kid's turnaround in attitude, but figured it ultimately didn't matter since she was now about to get the freedom she had desperately sought. However, before she could even take five steps a series of vehicles came speeding down the road ahead of and behind her. The many vans and cars quickly surrounded the pair before unloading a small army of men in black suits wielding weapons of all types.

"Well, well, well…" Said the apparent leader as he took a few steps forward while swinging a chain. "Looks like that cop's info was right after all."

Naruto started to panic thinking they were a bunch of Faunus haters. Tsunade looked at the group nervously knowing exactly who they were. Debt collectors.

"I didn't think you'd ever have the guts to show your face round here again, Tsunade."

All the panic Naruto was feeling evaporated instantly only to be replaced with confusion. "Huh? Why are they after you?"

Tsunade gave him a rueful chuckle, "Well, you see…a couple years ago, when I last visited this town…I may have lost a little bit of money gambling with some…unsavory people."

"2.3 million lien!" The de facto leader of the group shouted angrily.

Naruto gave his fellow blonde a deadpanned stared. "A little bit of money?"

"And we're here to collect! But this goes beyond money now. Now, we're going to take it from your pretty little hide! You and the little Faunus brat!"

"Hey, don't look at me," Naruto said holding his hands up in surrender before gesturing to Tsunade. "She just told me to get lost. Something about not wanting a sidekick."

"Traitor!" Tsunade shouted. Naruto just gave her a cheeky look.

The leader of the mob seemed to consider his options before shrugging. "In that case, you're free to go. Beating you is pointless if she doesn't care about you. Besides, even I can see you got some skill on ya. You wouldn't be worth the trouble of beating if you plan on staying out of this." He paused as if considering something. "Besides, the bitch will be hard enough to take down. The less help she has, the better."

It was in that moment, inspiration struck Tsunade.

"Oi, brat." She spoke softly so only Naruto could hear. "You help me here and with any debt collectors in the future and I'll teach you that technique you wanted to learn so badly."

"You swear it?" He asked just as softly.

"On my honor-"

Naruto snorted, "That means little coming from an old drunk buried in gambling debts."

"As a Huntress you little shit!" She finished harshly. Truth be told, Tsunade could probably handle this mob herself. But considering just how outnumbered she was, she knew there was still a chance of someone getting a lucky shot. If that happened, things would just go downhill from there. If not now, then later with the next group to track her down.

"In that case," Naruto said punching his open hand. "Consider me your own personal bodyguard…Granny."

Tsunade growled in annoyance. She'd kick his ass later for that remark. After all, it was perfectly okay to beat a kid in her book when you were the one "training" them.

(End of The Drunk Princess and the Toad Faunus Pt. 1)

XxX

(Omake 2 Operation Three Sizes)

Glynda was walking down the streets of Vale as she performed a series of tasks for Beacon Academy. It was par the course for her to go into town every second Saturday to place or pickup any orders Beacon made over the course of the past two weeks. While it was entirely possible to do this through her scroll and various shipping industries, Glynda always liked handling the smaller affairs face to face. There was a measure of satisfaction she felt every time she interacted with the good men and women who helped keep Beacon running from the shadows.

She was making her way to her sixth stop of the day. Hands full with various bags when it happened. Her danger sense went off and before she could react a small ball landed at her feet before exploding into a large dark cloud.

_A smoke bomb!?_ She questioned before she was assaulted.

Two small, dainty hands grabbed her ass from behind causing a startled gasp from the blonde professor before circling to her hips and finally pulling away. Despite her hands being loaded, she was a trained Huntress and responded to the attack as one would expect. Pivoting on her feet and using the weight of her bags to increase her momentum, Glynda raised one high heel clad foot and struck with a harsh roundhouse kick at her attacker. She felt a bit of satisfaction when her foot connected and she heard someone, a man cry out in pain.

However, victory wasn't found just yet. Once again two small hands grabbed her waist and rubbed it up and down prompting a blush and gasp out of the teacher before they pulled away. Of course there was another attacker! Being mindful of the bags she was still holding, she threw her weight forward into a front flip whilst using the heel of right foot to strike the chin of the second molester.

As she landed on her feet and regained her balance, a third attack came. This one was the worst of all as two small hands groped both of her breasts, firmly massaging them and eliciting a brief erotic moan from Glynda that only served to fuel her immense rage. The hands retreated, but Glynda took a step forward after them. She quickly raised her knee and slammed it into the crotch of her final attacker.

The smoke started clearing revealing a man in a black suit with red sunglasses holding his family jewels before keeling over. As she glared down at the three men currently unconscious at her feet she made note of one very important fact. All three men were tall and burly. Their hands were large as well…too large to be the hands that groped her. Quickly looking up she had just enough time to see two white ponytails round the corner.

"What the hell was that all about," She asked herself.

XxX

Two blocks away, Kuro walked up to Naruto holding a single sheet of paper.

"Glynda Goodwitch's three sizes. As you requested." The young cat Faunus said in her usual monotone handing him the paper and accepting the fat stack of lien he gave her in exchange.

"Thanks, Kuro. I knew you were the girl for the job."

Kuro nodded, "Mistress says my hands are magical."

Naruto's mind went blank as he processed that sentence and the mental imagery that came with it. He snapped back just in time to see her scribble something on another sheet of paper. "What's that?"

"Mistress also wanted to know if you would get aroused imagining dirty thoughts of me and her together."

Naruto gave her a blank look. "You're a strange one, Kuro."

The white haired teenager slipped the piece of paper into her kimono. "And you're a deviant for thinking I would do anything sexual with my mother-figure."

The blonde sulked at the reprimand while Kuro walked away.

(End of Operation Three Sizes)

And we're back after (glances at last update) holy hell, 8 months!

First and foremost, special thanks to **Dreadman75** for his work as beta. Hope you enjoyed the omakes (He doesn't get to beta those. My own way of thanking him and giving him something new to read when I update).

That being said, good news to all my incredibly patient fans. The real life issues that were holding me back are dealt with and so updates will return to the same frequency as when I first started this fic. Now, I know I promised a double update and yet failed to deliver. But I figured you lot were along the lines of "Hurry up and update, asshole!" So I figured I'd give you this instead of waiting till the next part is done. By my estimate, Part 2 should be done by Christmas, but since I don't expect Dread to take time away from his family to beta the story, you will have to wait till after Christmas for the next part. Okay? Okay.

As always, when introducing major players, here is the folklore they relate to…

**Tsunade – **We basically covered this with Jiraiya. They're part of the same folktale and there really isn't much else for me to add.

**Dr. Know-all – **Dr. Noal is an allusion to the German fairytale collected by the Grimm brothers about a peasant who wants to get rich and live a life of luxury. This is why he is a "Doctor" of tech support. If you got the time, look up the story. It's pretty funny.

Everyone enjoy your holidays and I will see you again before the New Year!


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